The Portland City Council voted 3-1 on Wednesday to expand paid parking in Northwest Portland, bringing meters and permits to the trendy shopping district around Northwest 21st and 23rd avenues in 2013 or 2014.

Commissioner Nick Fish voted against the proposal but didn't offer an explanation. "I respectfully vote no," he said.

Commissioner Dan Saltzman was absent.

The

-- spearheaded by Mayor Sam Adams -- closes one chapter in the decades-long battle over parking in Northwest Portland, where the city has sought to encourage vehicular turnover and raise revenue, business owners have expressed fear that paid parking would drive customers away and residents have said they're tired of battling visiting motorists for a place to put their cars.

The plan will affect parking in an area roughly bounded by Interstate 405, the West Hills, West Burnside Street and Northwest Vaughn Street. The district, phased in over 18 months, will have zones with varying rules: Visitors will plug a meter in some areas or can park free with a time limit of 90 minutes or three hours in others.

All residents and employees of neighborhood businesses will be able to buy $60 annual parking permits. Residents will also be able to buy one-day guest permits in $10 books of 10.

Meter readers will patrol the streets from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. But, unlike in downtown and the Pearl District, parking on Sundays will be free.

Commissioner Randy Leonard, voting yes, said he would have liked the plan to have called for more off-street parking, something neighborhood businesses pushed for, too. "It is what it is," Leonard said.

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