The Portland City Council is scheduled to have a public hearing on an ordinance at Mayor Ted Wheeler's request Thursday that would place new restrictions on protests in the city.

The proposal, dubbed the Protest Safety Ordinance by Wheeler's office, is a direct response to the many political demonstrations that have devolved into violent street clashes in the last two years, which have caused injury and property damage and drawn unfavorable attention to Portland.

If adopted, Wheeler would be allowed broad powers over when and how people may speak their minds in public. He could order demonstrators to restrict the length of a rally and order it be held at a specific place. He could limit movement within a zone of the city. And he could order public buildings be closed to curtail protesters' access to high-up vantage points, given worrying use of a public parking garage rooftop by armed protesters in August. Violators would be subject to arrest and fines.

Wheeler could order the restrictions only under certain circumstances, including if protesting groups have a history of violence, or if there is a "substantial likelihood of violence" at a planned protest, according to a draft of the ordinance.

Yet Wheeler's ordinance lays out no method to challenge such an order. And Wheeler has near complete power over city law enforcement personnel because he is police commissioner, though nearly all of that authority is delegated to the police chief, Danielle Outlaw.

A legal challenge is all but certain to follow if the restrictions become city law. When the mayor's office announced the proposal in October, the state American Civil Liberties Union chapter said it may be unconstitutional and noted the city already has laws banning street violence.

Wheeler has maintained the ordinance is a lawful tool modeled upon laws in other cities that allow officials to crack down on violent demonstrators.

Passage of Wheeler's ordinance is uncertain. Only Commissioner Dan Saltzman has made statements supporting it, and the other three commissioners on the city council have made their skepticism clear in public statements.

The city council is scheduled to debate Wheeler's ordinance and take public comment at 2:15 p.m. Thursday in the council chambers in City Hall. Council meetings may be watched online live at www.portlandoregon.gov/video.

– Gordon R. Friedman

This article has been updated to reflect that the City Council will hold a hearing on the protest ordinance Thursday, but not a vote.