While talking about

yesterday, local restaurateur Bruce Carey mentioned that the long-rumored carfree Ankeny Street project had gotten the green light from the city.

The idea, which has been batted around for years, is to shut down the stretch of Ankeny between Second and Third avenues to car traffic, allowing restaurants to serve food and drinks to customers at tables flowing out into the road. Sort of like a Portland version of New York's Little Italy.

spokesman Dan Anderson confirmed that the city created a permit to shut down the alley to car traffic from June 21 to October 31. Businesses on the alley will pay the city approximately $5,000 over that period in recompense to the city for lost revenue on six metered parking spaces.

Berbati's Pan & Restaurant owner John Papaioannou said seven businesses --

,

,

,

,

,

, and

-- will share that payment at a cost of a little under $200 each per month.

Several businesses on the alley, including Berbarti's, have pushed for the carfree project for years. Perrierra owner

, late last year. Papaioannou said he's been a proponent of the idea for some time, having been in business on the alley for 24 years.

Spokesman Anderson said local businesses came to the bureau and asked how they could make it happen.

"This is the city working to enhance business success by taking their suggestions for how to use the street," Anderson said.

"We've made sure that police, fire and emergency response are OK with it," he said. "But the businesses have been great. They came up with their own freight delivery plan. They've totally taken it upon themselves and are paying the costs so we're not losing cash."

Papaioannoi has already built a window for serving food on the alley, but doesn't plan to use it until a remodel of his venue is completed in July.

He said PBOT director Tom Miller and Portland Mayor Sam Adams were instrumental in helping them negotiate the permit.

Anderson called the permit a "pilot project."

The street's not officially closed forever," he said. "They'll be able to sell food, set up tables and chairs and we're still working through whether they can sell alcohol."

And Anderson said

, a craft beer bar at Southwest Broadway and Ankeny Street, has asked the city to look into shutting down the stretch of Ankeny near them (from Broadway to Northwest Eighth Avenue).

--