Portland amends odor code months after forced closure of pho restaurant
By Bryan Ke
City Council members in Portland, Oregon, headed by Commissioner Carmen Rubio, voted to amend the city’s odor code on Nov. 13. The long-awaited move came in response to the forced closure of Vietnamese pho restaurant Pho Gabo earlier this year, which drew significant community backlash and allegations of discrimination.
- Catch up: Pho Gabo closed its Fremont Street branch on Feb. 3 after being constantly reported by an anonymous neighbor who complained about the smell of cooking meat. Owner Eddie Dong, who dealt with the complaints for months, saw mounting fines for alleged violations in the city’s odor code, which prohibits “continuous, frequent or repetitive odors” from restaurants. Among the costly upgrades he had to meet was installing a $40,000 air filtration system. The overwhelming expenses ultimately forced Dong to shut down the business.
- What to expect: The new odor code, which takes effect on March 1, 2025, will require five or more people living within 150 feet (45.7 meters) of a business to file a complaint about odors within 30 days before an investigation is launched. The amended policy will also exempt retail and service businesses from the odor code regulation, while those still subject to the law will be allowed 30 minutes of “continuous odor emissions” per day, instead of the current 15 minutes. Speaking to the Willamette Week, Dong said he felt like “the decoy or the bait” for change. “Nothing is going to happen to them, but a lot of things happen to me. It took part of my livelihood — a third of my income is from there,” he said.
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