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When Le Meitour family members purchased a former auto repair shop in Multnomah Village, they envisioned a transformation. They saw food carts parked outside the building at 3530 S.W. Multnomah Blvd. Inside, several vendors would peddle their goods, a single cash register would serve everyone and ample seats would be available for patrons to sit for hours any time of year. They called it the French Quarter.

鈥淚t would function like a street with little shops on it,鈥� said Sara Le Meitour, the building manager for the French Quarter. 鈥淲e would have a little seating area indoors for the food carts that are out in the parking lot area. It’s just sort of this community space.鈥�

The French Quarter now has food carts, but the building can only be used as a warehouse. Redevelopment has been slow over the past two years amid building inspections and seismic reinforcement upgrades. The final permit for a mercantile license will have to come from the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

Le Meitour said that the city wants the family to give it eight linear feet of property on Multnomah Boulevard, five linear feet of property on 35th Avenue and one linear foot of property on Evans Street so that sidewalks can be constructed. She said that request is unreasonable because giving up that land would lower the property value, limit space available for food carts and eliminate a parking space. Also, to give the space requested on Evans Street, the owners would have to knock down a wall because the building sits on the property line.

PBOT spokesman Dylan Rivera said that sidewalks are being required because the French Quarter would generate more traffic than what has existed historically.

鈥淲e think this is well within code and the standard procedure for how the sidewalk network is built out in areas that don’t have sidewalks as redevelopment occurs,鈥� he said.

The property owners are appealing PBOT’s decision to a public works panel. Also, Le Meitour has started a change.org petition that has drawn 586 supporters.

鈥淭he reason I started the petition is to send it along with the lawyer to show (that) all of these people in the neighborhood want this,鈥� she said.

PBOT, however, believes that people there want sidewalks.

鈥淲e hear from Southwest Portland (residents) time and time again that sidewalks are really important to the community,鈥� Rivera said. 鈥淧BOT and (the Bureau of Development Services) partnered on a sidewalk multi-use path on Multnomah Boulevard because of the strong interest we hear from the community of building out the sidewalk there.鈥�

Le Meitour said that if the sidewalk requirements don’t change, then her family’s planned French Quarter won’t be created. Instead, the building would become an auto garage again.

鈥淲e don’t want to give the city our land because that would devalue the property value significantly,鈥� Le Meitour said. 鈥淲e really don’t want to turn it back into an auto garage because we love the French Quarter. I grew up in that neighborhood and we want to maintain that charm that Multnomah Village has.鈥�