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Formula Business Ordinance – Portland, Maine
UPDATE 2007: Shortly after this ordinance was passed, a new city council took office. In February 2007, they voted to suspend the ordinance and establish a special task force on business diversity to study the issue and advise the council on the need for regulation.
In November 2006, the Portland, Maine, City Council adopted an ordinance which restricts the establishment of some formula retail stores and restaurants in the downtown and adjacent commercial areas.
The measure was proposed by Keep Portland Real, a coalition of citizens working with City Council member Karen Geraghty. They argued that Portland's economy would suffer if cookie-cutter formula businesses were allowed to proliferate in the downtown, a historic harbor-front area increasingly popular with both residents and visitors. Not only do independent businesses recycle a much greater share of their revenue back into the local economy, the coalition contended, but they are an essential part of the distinctive character that attracts new investment and businesses to Portland.
The ordinance sets different restrictions in two parts of the city. In the downtown core, no more than 23 formula businesses (the current number) are allowed, and they may be no more than 2,000 square feet in size and not less than 200 feet from another formula business. In this zone, formula businesses are defined as those with features that make them substantially similar to 10 or more businesses elsewhere in the U.S.. The ordinance exempts certain types of formula businesses, including gas stations, movie theaters, drug stores, and service providers such as banks.
The restrictions are looser in the "formula business overlay zone" which includes several commercial areas adjacent to the downtown. Here formula businesses are capped at 4,000 square feet and must be at least 400 feet from other formula outlets.
In addition to adopting the ordinance, the Portland City Council also voted to establish a commission to review the issue and make recommendations regarding any additional steps the city should take.
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