Page 4
June 21, 2017
by
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building right up to the proper-
ty line, which is compelling the
Brames to move the meter. Due
to regulations imposed by Pacific
Power, the Brames must also re-
wire their entire building to meet
current industrial and commer-
cial standards. The current wiring
dates back to the 1940s.
“It’s considered industrial,” ex-
plained Rickey Brame, who has
nearly three decades of experience
working as a professional electri-
cian, “which means we’ve got to
have sprinkler systems and every-
thing. It’s not just moving the me-
ters, it snowballs.”
Brian Alfrey, who co-owns the
adjacent development site at 533
N.E. Killingsworth along with
his business partner Mike Gad-
berry, says that he is just trying to
breathe new life into an underuti-
lized piece of land.
“It was a dilapidated old lock-
smith building. The roof was fall-
ing in, and it was just terrible,”
said Alfrey. “We bought it, and we
wanted to do something better for
the neighborhood.”
Alfrey and Gadberry also own
the Radio Room, a popular bar
and restaurant on Northeast Al-
berta Street that is situated inside
a repurposed gas station.
Rickey Brame says that he isn’t
opposed to the new development
for the neighborhood, but is feel-
ing forced out by the project.
“We welcomed them at first,
when we got the notice from the
city,” he said. “We were tired of
looking at that eye-sore too!”
Alfrey, who is himself a na-
tive of northeast Portland, says
that he is simply trying to create
a space that will help to preserve
the historic characteristics of the
Killingsworth business corridor,
which Rickey and Herman Brame
describe as “the soul of the city.”
“We opted not to do a
$2,000-a-month apartment com-
plex,” Alfrey says, “but to do
something that’s a little truer to
the neighborhood.”
Alfrey and Gadberry offered
$10,000 to help cover the cost of
moving the meter; Rickey Brame,
however, says that the cost of re-
wiring the entire structure would
be substantially higher.
The Brames say that while
some space between construction
projects and property lines are re-
quired in residential areas, there
are no such requirements in com-
mercial zones.
Ross Caron, public information
officer for the Portland Bureau of
Development Services, says city
regulators are aware of the situa-
tion involving the Brame’s build-
ing. He explained that Pacific
Power, and not the city, is compel-
ling them to rewire the structure.
Pacific Power could not be im-
mediately reached for comment.
The Brames add that while they
understand that the developers are
observing current regulations, say
City Hall isn’t going far enough to
protect existing landowners and
minority business owners from
new developments.
“No matter what the code
says,” said Herman Brame, “the
code is wrong.”
Pointing to already-gentrified
neighborhoods like Mississippi
and Alberta, the Brames say that
the burden placed on them is an-
other obstacle to staying put in
parts of the city that are rapidly
changing.
“I have a minimum of 5 em-
ployees here,” said Rickey Brame.
“These are minority workers try-
ing to stay in our own neighbor-
hood.”
Herman Brame says that city
leaders are ignoring the plight of
black residents and business own-
ers who are being forced out of
inner Portland.
“You can cite codes and email
back and forth, but that doesn’t
get anything done,” he says. “At
some point, they need to get out
and walk around and see what’s
actually going on.”
Herman Brame penned a letter
to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler
asking him to review his family’s
case, and learn more about how
Portland residents are being af-
fected by the city’s zoning rules.
“We hope that they can review
their code, and take this into con-
sideration,” Herman Brame said.
For now, the Brames are pre-
paring to shut down the barber-
shop as the new construction is
ready to begin. He is hoping, how-
ever, that a salon that’s attached to
the barbershop can remain in op-
eration for the foreseeable future.
The salon is run by his daughter,
who is the fourth generation of the
Brame family to be successful in
the beauty industry.
“The barbershop is going to
be cut off,” Rickey Brame says.
“We’re going to be shut down.
We’ve got no choice.”
The barbershop is scheduled to
have its power cut on Friday, June
23.
“We will survive. We own this
land,” Rickey Brame said, adding,
“But this could have us shut down
three years.”
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