Redevelopment of Portland’s Central Eastside transformed it from gritty industrial district to thriving retail, dining and entertainment hub in recent years.

But entrepreneurs there say increasing “crime and grime” have spurred them to propose a multimillion-dollar effort to patrol Central Eastside streets, remove graffiti, conduct extra garbage pickup and redirect homeless people to social services.

Portland already has two similar programs, called enhanced service districts, in the downtown core and the Lloyd District.

In those areas, unarmed security officers patrol the area on foot or by bike to monitor goings-on, with eyes out for aggressive panhandling, public drinking or suspected drug deals. Security officers have direct radio contact with Portland police officers to enable rapid police response to suspected illegal activity. Also there are roving trash collectors who remove tons of garbage and thousands of hypodermic needles.

The Portland City Council is slated to approve creation of the Central Eastside district Wednesday. If it does, the city would begin assessing a fee on businesses between Interstate 84 and the Ross Island Bridge and the Willamette River to Southeast 12th Avenue to pay for the new services.

In materials provided to the council, proponents of the district said it is needed in part because of what they say was a “64 percent increase in crimes against people and property in the past year.”

“To shape Central Eastside’s future and ensure its economic prosperity, we must take advantage of new tools to clean, beautify, promote and secure our district,” wrote the Central Eastside Industrial Council.

The business group said its steering committee has held dozens of outreach sessions to solicit community input and met with more than 200 property owners for feedback.

To test their ideas, Central Eastside entrepreneurs launched three pilot projects last year: a garbage collection program providing jobs to the homeless, a rush-hour shuttle along Southeast Water Avenue, and a security team that documented more than 800 instances of graffiti. The test-runs were successful, the Industrial Council said.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com