Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning and Environment

FROM:

Director of City Plans

SUBJECT:

Approval of Council Initiative - Proposed Chinatown BIA

 

RECOMMENDATION

CONSIDERATION

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 policies with respect to the establishment of a BIA include:

· October 14, 1997: A BIA may be established by Council Initiative; property owners and commercial tenants receive notification of the Initiative, and the BIA will not proceed if one-third or more of the tenants or owners, counted separately, are in opposition.

PURPOSE

The Chinatown Merchants Association (CMA) has submitted documentation of its outreach efforts and has completed the first step in the process of establishing a new Business Improvement Area (BIA).

The Chinatown Property Owners Association (CPOA) has also applied to establish a BIA over essentially the same area as that proposed by the CMA. The CPOA has not submitted documentation of its outreach efforts, but requests that its application be considered by Council.
The purposes of this report are to consider approval of a sponsor for a Chinatown BIA and to consider a Council Initiative for the proposed Chinatown BIA.

BACKGROUND

Until October 1997, the process for establishing a BIA required a petition of support from at least 50 percent of owners (representing 50 percent of the assessed property value), and a tenant survey, before Council would consider hearing an application to form a BIA. Because the collection of signatures had apparently been an insurmountable task, a number of applicants tried, but failed to meet the target requirements.

In October 1997, Council approved a streamlined process which eliminates the Petition requirement, and proceeds entirely by way of Council Initiative, i.e., the BIA initiative will not succeed if one-third of the property owners or tenants (counted separately) are in opposition.

Under the Council Initiative process, applicants are required to contact all property owners and businesses within the proposed area, solicit support for the BIA proposal, and forward documentation of their outreach activities to the City. Most applicants hold public meetings and distribute a survey to ascertain the level of support for their BIA proposal. This provides information for Council to determine whether a proposal is generally supported and can be forwarded to Court of Revision for formal hearing.

DISCUSSION

During the past year, the City has received applications from two organizations wishing to establish a BIA in Chinatown: The Chinatown Merchants Association (CMA) and the Chinatown Property Owners Association (CPOA). The BIA boundaries proposed by the two applicants are virtually identical, the major exception being the inclusion of International Village within the boundaries of the CPOA proposal. The CMA boundaries are attached as Appendix A. The CPOA boundaries are attached as Appendix B. Both applicants are proposing an annual budget of $300,000. Based on the CMA's proposed boundaries, the cost to property owners would be approximately $1.28 per $1,000 property value, which is similar to the rate paid in Gastown in 1997/98. Based on the CPOA boundaries, which encompass International Village, the rate would be 77c per $1,000.

Chinatown Merchants Association (CMA)Proposal

The Chinatown Merchants Association (CMA) has been operating in Chinatown as a voluntary organization since 1981. In June 1991, Council first approved the CMA as a BIA sponsor. In September 1993, the CMA commenced the first of two attempts to establish a BIA under the former procedure, which required a petition representing the support of 50% of the affected property owners (representing 50% of the assessed property value). The time and volunteer resources required to collect the signatures proved too much for the CMA, and the application was abandoned.

In 1995, the CMA made a second attempt to establish a BIA in Chinatown. While the number of property-owner signatures obtained (70% of properties) was sufficient, the property value (40% of assessed value) was insufficient to meet the City requirements.

In February 1998, following the changes to the City BIA process, the CMA formed a BIA committee to consider a new sponsorship application and BIA proposal. The CMA indicated its intention to re-apply to the City for consideration of a BIA under the new process on April 28, 1998. A copy of their application letter is attached as Appendix C. As required by the City, the CMA has incorporated a separate non-profit society under the Societies Act, for the purpose of administering the BIA. It was registered on July 7 1998, as the Vancouver Chinatown BIA Society.

The CMA wishes to implement a BIA in 1999.

Chinatown Property Owners Association (CPOA) Proposal

The Chinatown Property Owners Association formally applied to the City for consideration of a BIA on April 15, 1998. A copy of their application letter is attached as Appendix D. As required by the City, the CPOA has incorporated a separate non-profit society under the Societies Act, for the purpose of administering the BIA. It was registered on April 24 1998, as the Chinatown Business Improvement Association.

In a letter received on January 20 1999, the CPOA notes that it wishes to pursue a BIA for implementation in the year 2000. Alternatively, the CPOA is willing to support the application of the CMA if a mutually acceptable arrangement can be found for property owner representation on the BIA board.

Process for Assessing Support

This is the first time the City has received competing applications to sponsor and establish a BIA over essentially the same area. Staff have offered to help facilitate discussions to put forward a joint application, but to date there appears to be little interest in pursuing such an initiative.

The emergence of two applications required staff to define a procedure for determining the relative level of support for each applicant. Council normally requires a sponsor to provide documentation of outreach efforts showing indications of support from property owners and tenants. In the present case, staff requested each of the two applicants to document their support by collecting and submitting signatures from property owners and commercial tenants within their respective proposed boundaries. The applicants were NOT required to achieve a 'target' percentage of signatures (as in the former petition process), but staff have tabulated the results to help Council determine which applicant, if any, should be approved.

For the collection of signatures, staff prepared a 'sponsor support form' in English and Chinese, several hundred copies of which were sent to each of the applicants. The forms are double sided: One side explains how a BIA works and how it is formed; the reverse side is the actual support form. The English version of the form is attached as Appendix E.

Staff indicated that completed forms would be accepted either from the applicants, or directly from property owners and tenants. The deadline for return of completed forms was October 31, 1998.

1. CMA Submission of Support

2. CPOA Submission of Support

3. Overall Comments Regarding Sponsor Support

4. Concerns With the Sponsor Support Process

5. Proposal to Resolve the Dilemma of Two Applicants

CONCLUSION

Two groups have applied to sponsor a BIA for virtually the same geographic area: The Chinatown Merchants Association (CMA) and the Chinatown Property Owners Association (CPOA). This situation, as far as staff are aware, is unprecedented. Staff have offered to facilitate a joint BIA application, but to date there appears to be little interest in pursuing a combined application.

To help Council gauge relative support for the two applicants, the City provided the applicants with sponsor support forms to be completed and returned to the City for tabulation. The CPOA subsequently indicated it would not participate in the signature-gathering process. Forms returned on behalf of the CMA indicate that the CMA is generally supported. However, 37% of the property owners remain unaccounted, and could conceivably defeat the proposal at Court of Revision.

Council has several options available to it. It can:

1. Approve either the CPOA or the CMA based on the results of the City's sponsor support form and staff comments on the respective applications;

2. Approve neither the CPOA nor the CMA; or

3. Defer approval of a sponsor group to provide further opportunities for negotiation of a joint application, and/or to provide the CMA and CPOA with a further opportunity to submit evidence of support (Consideration E).

Given dates for the Court of Revision and commencement of tax collection for 1999, if a Chinatown BIA is to start in 1999 Council would need to proceed at this time to designate a sponsor and refer a proposal to a March 1999 Court of Revision. Based on material received to date, and comparing the material provided with that received from other new BIAs, staff note that the CMA has provided adequate documentation to recommend referring the Chinatown Merchants Association proposal to a hearing of the Court of Revision (Recommendations A, B, and D).

Given the issues surrounding multiple sponsors, Council may wish to encourage the sponsors to find a mutually acceptable solution to managing the future affairs of the BIA, to be reported at the Court of Revision (Recommendation C). Alternatively, Council may prefer to adopt Consideration E to provide more time to negotiate a joint application or further confirm sponsor support levels.

APPENDICES C-F (LIMITED DISTRIBUTION. On file in the City Clerk's Office)

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