North Greeley Avenue construction

A car navigates around ongoing sewer construction work on North Greeley Avenue in North Portland in March.

(Andrew Theen/The Oregonian)

Portland's proposed street fee on residents and businesses is building to a slow boil as the City Council prepares to hold its first public hearing on Thursday afternoon.

Facebook groups both in opposition and support of the street fee, which city officials are calling the transportation utility fee, cropped up in the past few days. There's also a hashtag.

Supporters of the fee started the "Pass the PDX Street Fee" page last week but have just 82 Facebook likes.

"Our streets are one of the last bastions of public space. They are one of the few places where a millionaire has the same value as someone on minimum wage. Ensuring that space is safe and maintained is vital to our democracy," the page's description reads.

Opposition groups gained much more traction, with more than 1,000 people liking the "Stop Portland Street Fee" Facebook page.

"Well maintained and safe streets are vitally important. And yes, new revenue sources need to be found to fund overdue maintenance and safety projects. But a regressive, economy-killing tax that treats your corner drive in the same as McDonalds, that pulls teachers out of the classrooms, and makes property owners the tax collectors is not the way to do it," the groups' description says.

Opponents started a Twitter hashtag, #stoppdxstreetfee.

On Tuesday, the Portland Business Alliance sent an email blast to members asking for a strong showing Thursday afternoon during the 2 p.m. public hearing.

But the chamber of commerce hasn't taken a formal stance on the street fee. The alliance is asking the city to slow down its push to create a new funding stream for safety and maintenance projects.

A reminder, the proposed street fee is projected to raise $40 million - $50 million annually, according to Portland transportation officials.

Mayor Charlie Hales and Commissioner Steve Novick are proposing the new fee. Read more of our coverage here.

-- Andrew Theen