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Portland’s Unreinforced Masonry (URM) Policy Committee will meet at least once more. Thursday’s public hearing was supposed to be the final one, but a room full of building owners upset with recommended upgrade steps succeeded in delaying a move to City Council.

Owners said the proposal that would mandate upgrades of URM structures is unfair, demanded greater financial incentives and accused the committee’s volunteers of failing to listen.

The plan currently includes the following four steps and coinciding deadlines.

• Step 1 鈥� A full upgrade strategy including detailed cost estimates must be completed within five years. The assessments typically cost between $5,000 and $15,000.
• Step 2 鈥� Parapets, cornices and chimneys must be braced, and the roof must be attached to walls within 10 years.

The upgrades required by Step 2 are already required by current Portland city code; however, a loophole allows owners to perform nearly 50 percent of a re-roof, then wait a period of time before completing the project under a separate building permit.

(Several committee members suggested that closing the loophole would represent a step in the right direction, and suggested, off the record, this loophole is likely why so many building owners support keeping Step 2 in the plan.)

• Step 3 鈥� All floors must be attached to walls and the roof must be sheathed within 15 years.
• Step 4 鈥� A complete retrofit must be performed within 25 years. The cost estimate for such a project is between two and eight times the cost of Step 3.

A majority of the owners who attended the meeting said they support steps 1 and 2, but say steps 3 and 4 put a full upgrade financially out of reach.

鈥淲e’re not fat cats; we’re small businessmen,鈥� one said.

Don Nielsen, a representative of St. James Lutheran Church, said the congregation has worked hard to raise $600,000 of the $4 million cost to upgrade its 125-year-old building at Southwest Park Avenue and Jefferson Street. But the construction boom has made the project even more costly for the church, and the looming passage of the city’s URM rules has created even more uncertainty, he said.

The church currently houses the St. James Child Development Center 鈥� the largest child care facility in the city, Nielsen said.

鈥淭hat building will probably have to close at some point, and right now it’s providing a lot of services,鈥� he said.

Lindsay Levy, who co-owns with her husband the building at 909 N. Dekum St., said more focus should go to Portland’s old brick school buildings.

鈥淚 don’t feel like any of you have skin in the game,鈥� she said to the committee. 鈥淒on’t tell me this is about safety when we have to beg for a bond to fix our schools. The city kicks around the owners. Since you’re holding all of us accountable, I want to hold the city accountable. The kids and the older people should come first.鈥�

One committee member is a representative of URM building owners 鈥� attorney Walt McMonies.

鈥淚 don’t call them 鈥榠ncentives;’ I call them essential financing for this sort of project,鈥� he said.

Committee member Brian Emerick was interrupted as he tried to defend the committee’s work.

鈥淚t’s not his money,鈥� an audience member called out, to applause.

The morning after the meeting, Emerick, an architect who works on seismic upgrade projects, said he regretted not doing a better job defending the committee’s progress tailoring the rules to different perspectives.

Among the changes worked out by the subcommittee are simplifying some conditions, revising definitions and removing steps in the process.

Many pointed out that lenders are increasingly wary of URM upgrades.

鈥淲here are the folks in this room going to find the money to finance these upgrades?鈥� Steve Rose said.

Seventy-five year old retiree Michael Emert left copies of his statement next to an official handout packet at the entrance. It details how full upgrades of the two conjoined buildings he purchased in 1993 as a retirement investment would cost between $750,000 and $1 million.

鈥淩ight now, it would cost more to retrofit than I can afford to pay in my lifetime,鈥� he said.

Also largely supportive is the Portland City Club. A representative said around 80 percent of its approximately 2,000 members support the plan.

One issue yet to be resolved is whether Multnomah County will adopt provisions of a recently passed state law 鈥� Senate Bill 311, which allows local governments to pass property tax exemptions to pay for seismic upgrades of commercial buildings built before 1993. It’s thought the law will cover up to 80 percent of the costs for performing Step 3 upgrades.

Emerick said he wants the final plan to include Step 3 only if Portland and Multnomah County enable SB 311.

The emotionally-charged testimony may have affected committee members. When an audience member suggested that the proposed policy could be potentially more destructive to old buildings in Portland than an actual earthquake, by forcing owners to tear down or sell, Peggy Moretti of Restore Oregon responded, 鈥淪aving buildings is our mission 鈥� I cannot support a policy that would lead to the destruction of historical buildings. At this moment I am of the position that we cannot mandate something that there are not financial tools for.鈥�