**Live Nation’s Proposed Portland Music Hall Faces Local Opposition and Regulatory Hurdles**
A new Live Nation concert venue with more than 3,000 seats. Independent promoters and local musicians rallying in opposition. Contentious public meetings. It’s a familiar story—but this time, the drama is unfolding in the other Portland.
Earlier this year, Live Nation won a land use battle and secured a building permit for a midsize venue in Portland, Oregon. However, a similar project in Maine’s largest city—Portland Music Hall—has come to a standstill. The project is currently on hold after the City Council enacted a moratorium in August on new entertainment venues and concert halls in response to overwhelming opposition from the local music community.
On Tuesday, a city committee is set to discuss a proposed change to licensing and land use code that, if passed, would effectively block the venue. Live Nation’s opponents say this case is unique in the national conversation about independent music venues versus corporate promoters.
> “If we’re able to stop this venue, we will be the first city in the country to do so,” said Scott Mohler, executive director of the Maine Music Alliance—a coalition of local venues, musicians, and arts organizations opposing the project.
Todd Goldenfarb, a longtime local developer involved with the project, emphasized the team’s strong opposition to any targeted efforts to derail the Portland Music Hall. “We strongly oppose any targeted effort to block the Portland Music Hall,” he wrote in an email on Friday.
### What’s on the Table
The proposed Portland Music Hall would be a 3,300-seat concert venue at the corner of Cumberland Avenue and Myrtle Street, just around the corner from Merrill Auditorium. The city’s moratorium directs officials to review the impact of large performance halls on traffic, parking, and local businesses with entertainment licenses.
Any changes to the city code would apply retroactively to the Portland Music Hall due to the moratorium’s effective date—December 2024. On Friday, a new proposal appeared on the Housing and Economic Development Committee’s Tuesday agenda.
Currently, the city requires a 100-foot buffer between businesses with entertainment licenses. City staff noted earlier this year that the proposed venue’s main entrance is more than 100 feet from Merrill Auditorium. However, Councilors Wes Pelletier and Pious Ali are sponsoring a proposal to expand that buffer to 750 feet for venues with a capacity over 1,000 people, and to remove the buffer for smaller venues.
> “I think that building these large venues so close to each other, it’s a recipe for disaster,” Pelletier said.
If passed, the change would prevent developers from building the Music Hall at their chosen location. Still, Pelletier insists the measure is not specifically targeted at Live Nation.
> “For me, it’s not about Live Nation. It’s about the peninsula and planning for our city. This is an even-handed way of saying, ‘We need to be mindful about this.’”
The committee will discuss the proposal on Tuesday but will not vote during this meeting.
Live Nation’s local development partner is Mile Marker Investments, run by Todd Goldenfarb and his father, Howard Goldenfarb, both with a long history of Portland-area projects. The developers emphasize that Portland is missing opportunities to bring in national acts because it lacks a venue of this size.
### A Ticket to New Revenue
Two months into the moratorium, just one other code-change proposal remains on the table. In August, Councilors Sarah Michniewicz and Ben Grant introduced an ordinance requiring venues with a capacity over 2,000 seats to pay at least 1% of ticket prices to the city as part of their entertainment license. The policy would also impact venues like Thompson’s Point and the Cross Insurance Arena.
Developers had already agreed to contribute $1 per ticket as a condition of approval for the Portland Music Hall, splitting the money between Greater Portland Metro bus service and local arts organizations. However, Michniewicz prefers codifying a percentage-based fee because ticket prices fluctuate. Under her proposal, if the Music Hall sold 3,000 tickets at $75 each, the city’s fee for the event would be $2,250.
On Tuesday, the Housing and Economic Development Committee will accept public comment on the proposal and vote on whether to recommend it to the full City Council.
Goldenfarb said in an email that the developers continue to meet with city leaders and arts groups.
> “Portland Music Hall will expand the city’s music scene and generate millions in year-round economic activity, especially for the arts district—all in a way that follows the city’s zoning laws,” he wrote. “We proposed a per-ticket community benefit and remain supportive of efforts to ensure the city benefits from our project.”
### All Eyes on Maine
So what happened in the other Portland?
In June, Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals allowed Live Nation to proceed with a 3,500-person venue built on formerly public land in an industrial district. That decision came after years of negotiation and attempted appeals to block the project.
Jamie Dunphy, who was closely involved in the Oregon fight and now serves on the city council, has spoken with organizers in Maine about lessons learned.
> “Getting the entire independent music industry to speak with one voice and fight for its own survival has been really successful here,” Dunphy said.
Stephen Parker, executive director at the National Independent Venue Association, has followed the Maine debate closely and came to testify in favor of the moratorium in August. He said that in Oregon, officials treated the question as a simple land use issue, rather than part of a bigger policy debate.
> “I think there is a great deal that Portland, Maine, City Council can learn from Portland, Oregon, City Council,” Parker remarked. “And most of those lessons are not the right ones.”
In September, the city of Portland, Oregon, issued a building permit for the new venue.
### More to Come
Councilor Michniewicz, a Bayside resident, has seen firsthand the challenges large events pose: performers struggling through snow to reach Merrill Auditorium, insufficient parking, and cars blocking fire hydrants on busy nights. She wants to mitigate the impact of an even larger venue by tightening parking regulations and encouraging concertgoers to reserve a garage spot with their ticket purchase.
> “It’s not just about this project,” Michniewicz said. “It’s about a more holistic approach to managing traffic and parking so it’s safe.”
The Portland Music Hall was on the brink of a Planning Board vote in August when the City Council approved the six-month pause. At that meeting, more than 100 people spoke, with nearly two-thirds supporting the moratorium—many pointing to ongoing antitrust litigation against Live Nation and fearing the new hall would damage the local music ecosystem.
The moratorium currently lasts until March. The City Council has the authority to end it early—or extend it further.
Stay tuned for more updates as this battle over Portland’s live music future continues to unfold.
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/11/14/what-will-portland-do-about-live-nations-proposed-venue-downtown/