ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning and Environment

FROM:

Director of City Plans

SUBJECT:

Approval of Council Initiative - Proposed Point Grey Village BIA

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

Section 456 of the Vancouver Charter gives Council the authority to create a Business Improvement Area (BIA). Council may grant money to a BIA for planning and implementation of business promotion schemes provided that the money is recovered through a special property tax.

Council policy with respect to the establishment of a BIA was approved on October 14, 1997 as follows:

A BIA may be established by Council Initiative; property owners and commercial tenants receive notification of the Initiative. The BIA will not proceed if one-third or more of the owners representing one-third of the assessed property value, or one-third of the tenants, counted separately, are in opposition.

PURPOSE

The Point Grey Village Business Association (PGVBA) has completed the first step in the process of establishing a new Business Improvement Area (BIA). The purpose of this report is to commence the second step, which is to approve the PGVBA as sponsor of, and to commence a Council Initiative for, the proposed Point Grey Village BIA, and to forward the BIA application to the Court of Revision.

BACKGROUND

`Point Grey Village' is the commercial area commonly known as West Tenth Avenue. A merchant's association has been active intermittently on West Tenth for many years. In the early 1990s, the West Tenth Merchants Association undertook a number of positive initiatives for the area, including installation of floral banners, having the lamp poles painted a distinctive blue, and building attractive flower beds around tree bases. They also undertook special events, and promotions such as an employee discount program. Since the late 1990s, the Association has become inactive, and the area has suffered from declining business vitality, increased retail vacancies, and overall physical deterioration. The decline was noted with concern by the local residents association. Subsequent attempts to revive the association and work toward a BIA were not sustained.

In May 2002, a commercial property owner on Upper Tenth and the Tenth & Alma areas approached the City about the possibility of establishing a BIA inclusive of both areas. In early September 2002 the property owner distributed a letter, primarily to business tenants, introducing the idea of a BIA, and a survey asking respondents to indicate priority activities and eliciting interest in a BIA for the area. On October 22, at the invitation of the same property owner, the first group meeting was held. Seven persons attended, from both the upper and lower areas, including the President of the inactive West 10th Merchants Association. By the second meeting, close to 20 people were in attendance, and by the third meeting on November 21, thegroup had elected a `President' and `Board' positions. The new Association - the Point Grey Village Business Association - is recognized as the successor to the former Merchants Association. Since its initial meeting, it has met as a group over a dozen times to plan area promotions and organize BIA outreach.

On December 5 2002, the PGVBA informed the City of its intention to sponsor a BIA application for West Tenth Avenue area. In May 2003, due to lack of sustained participation from merchants in the Tenth and Alma area, the PGVBA reduced its proposed BIA area to upper Tenth Avenue, between Tolmie and Discovery, deleting Tenth and Alma. The PGVBA sees a BIA as helping to maintain and enhance upper Tenth Avenue's `village' character and sense of community, and as a means of addressing specific issues such as graffiti, litter, general beautification, vacant storefronts and business vitality. The PGVBA currently has about 45 members, including property owners and business tenants.

The Point Grey Village Business Association is currently unincorporated. As required, the PGVBA will be registered as a non-profit society under the Societies Act prior to approval of the BIA at the Court of Revision to be held February 3, 2004.

DISCUSSION

The proposed Point Grey Village BIA includes the three commercial blocks of upper West 10th Avenue between Tolmie and Discovery streets. A map of the proposed boundary is attached as Appendix A.

The PGVBA proposes a Year 1 budget of $70,000.00, representing an annual levy rate of $0.99 per $1,000.00 of assessed property value, or approximately 3.5% of commercial property taxes. A copy of the proposed budget is attached for information as Appendix B. If Council approves the BIA at the Court of Revision, staff will report back for approval of the Year 1 budget along with all of the other BIAs' 2004 - 2005 budget requests.

The proposed funding-ceiling of $450,000 is the maximum amount that may be levied over the proposed Point Grey Village BIA 5-year term.

Outreach Activities

In September 2002, 100 surveys were sent, primarily to business tenants, in both the upper and lower Tenth Avenue areas, explaining how BIAs work, asking for input on possible BIA priorities, and asking whether the idea of a BIA was supported. Of the 30 responses received, 27 (90%) were in favour, 2 (6.7%) were not in favour, and 1 (3%) was not sure. In April 2003, the PGVBA distributed a second survey to 95 property owners and business tenants in the combined area. Respondents were asked to rank the importance of issues and activities. Property-owner surveys were accompanied by a letter indicating their dollar share of a proposed $100,000 annual BIA levy. The PGVBA received 61 survey responses. In response to the question "Do you favour theestablishment of our BIA?"; 50 (82%) responded `yes'; 8 (13%) `no', and 3 (5%) did not answer the question. Of the 24 property owners and 34 business tenants who answered the question, the results were: Property owners - 21 (87.5%)`yes', 3(12.5%) `no'; Business tenants - 29(85.3%) `yes', 5(14.7%) `no'.

In May 2003, after reducing the BIA proposal to the three blocks of upper West Tenth, the PGVBA began conducting general outreach activities to the commercial tenants and property owners in those blocks, publicizing the BIA proposal through letters, notices, general outreach meetings and direct contact. Three general outreach meetings held in June, July and October were preceded by meeting notices, material explaining the BIA proposal, and budget/cost information. The July and October material included detailed draft budgets based on a $70,000 BIA levy (reduced from $100,000 so that individual contributions in the smaller proposed area would be roughly the same).

The proposed BIA was also the subject of articles in the April/May 2003 and September/October/November 2003 issues of the West Point Grey ViewPoint, and in the September 2003 and October 2003 issues of the V6T Community News. Based on their surveys and general outreach, the PGVBA believes the BIA proposal is generally supported.

The Point Grey Village Business Association formally applied to the City for consideration of a BIA on October 23, 2003. A copy of their application letter and documentation of their outreach activities is attached as Appendix C.

Staff Comments - Outreach and Support

Staff are satisfied that the Point Grey Village Business Association has notified all property owners and tenants within the proposed BIA boundaries. Staff attended three public information meetings held on June 9 and July 23, 2003, at the Jericho Hill Centre, and on October 8, 2003, at Aberthau. Approximately 40 people attended (in total), with 10 to 15 people at each meeting. The numbers included PGVBA committee members, some of whom attended several meetings. None of the meetings attracted large numbers, but over the course of three meetings the PGVBA was able to bring a range of people to the BIA discussions. Although participants at the meetings seemed generally supportive, a few opponents also attended. An informal show of hands at the end of the meetings indicated an overwhelming majority in support of the BIA proposal.

Opponent's concerns included `runaway spending' and anticipation of increased rents. The need for proposed expenditures on beautification, litter clean up, and graffiti removal was questioned. Also, early budget drafts were criticized for not itemizing the proposed `promotion' budget, and the highest survey priority - crime prevention - did not have a budget allocation. The final draft budget was revised to include the `missing' budget items.

Along with the May 2003 survey sent to all property owners and business tenants, the PGVBA also distributed personalized statements informing property owners of their likely BIA contribution. The result is that the commercial landlords knew their exact individual cost much earlier than in other proposed BIAs, and therefore might have been expected to respond more negatively to the survey. With a very high (64%) survey return rate (combined owners and tenants), the results are significant, indicating an 87.5% approval rate among property owners, and only 12.5% opposed.

Unlike the property owners, business tenants did not receive a personalized statement showing their likely share of the BIA levy because, without knowing the tax portion of a tenant's rent, it is difficult to estimate how a landlord would apportion the BIA levy to one of several tenants. Instead, material sent to businesses encouraged the recipient to contact the PGVBA Committee chair directly. The survey results show a business tenant approval rate of 85.3%, and only 14.7% opposed. Businesses who indicated support for the BIA without contacting the PGVBA could later oppose the BIA if they find their actual share is greater than they imagined. Based on the level of support seen to date, few businesses are likely to do this.

As the PGVBA conducted its BIA support surveys in May prior to the outreach process, and prior to finalization of the proposed BIA budget, there is no recent data to indicate whether levels of support or opposition have changed significantly since that time. As of the date of this report, the PGVBA is aware of four business tenants who have expressed opposition to the proposed BIA.

At the instruction of staff, the PGVBA notices contained the name and telephone number of the City's BIA Coordinator. As of the date of this report, the Coordinator has received telephone calls from two businesses opposed to the BIA. They are among the four businesses noted by the PGVBA.

CONCLUSION

The Point Grey Village Business Association is requesting that Council consider approval of the proposed Point Grey Village BIA and 5 year funding ceiling of $450,000, and has asked that their application be forwarded by way of Council Initiative, to a Court of Revision, in order that the BIA may commence operations in April 2004. The results of the PGVBA's outreach activities indicate a high level of support and a low level of opposition at this stage in the process. If Council approves the Point Grey Village BIA at the Court of Revision, staff will report back for approval of the Year 1 budget along with all of the other BIAs' 2004 - 2005 budget requests.

APPENDICES FOR THIS REPORT ARE AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING IN CITY CLERK'S OFFICE OR COUNCILLORS' SECRETARIAT.

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© 2002 City of Vancouver