GASTOWN BIA

Application to Re-Establish BIA

On January 7, 1999, Council considered an application by the Gastown Business Improvement Society to renew (re-establish) its BIA mandate within the existing BIA boundaries (attached as Appendix A). Council referred the application to the Court of Revision for consideration as a Council Initiative.

The proposed BIA levy ranges from $20.44 to $31,750.00 annually, depending upon the assessed value of the property. About 18 properties will have a levy of less than $100. 53 properties will be charged between $100 and $1,000, and 51 properties will be charged over $1,000 annually.

As adjustments to boundaries and budgets are presently being made, there may be some variation between actual levies and the figures quoted above.

Notification

Individually addressed letters (Appendix B) were sent, postmarked on or before January 15, 1999, to 61 property owners, owning 122 legal parcels located within the Gastown BIA boundaries. Four letters were returned because the property had sold to new owners, the owners had moved, or the address was incorrect. Every effort was made to forward the letters.

Letters (Appendix C) were hand delivered to all businesses within the BIA. Over 350 letters were delivered.

Letters of Opposition

As of 5:30 pm February 10, 1999, letters of objection had been received from 3 property owners (4.9% of total) representing 6 assessed properties (4.9% of total), and an assessed value of 6,340,298 (4.0% of assessed value). No business tenants responded.

For information, should Council wish to apply the one-third guideline then:

· one-third of the number of assessed properties is 41 properties (subject to adjustments);
· since there are many multiple owners, one-third of the actual owners is 20 owners (subject to adjustments); and
· one-third of the assessed property value is in the order of $52,579,911.

One-third of the business tenants is a difficult number to assess with any certainty. The number is likely in the order of 350 business owners.

Should the final number of owners or tenants indicating opposition approach the one-third guideline, Council may wish to consider denying the BIA application. As of February 10, 1999, the number of owners/tenants opposing the proposal is considerably less than one-third. However, should Council receive, on February 16, a petition or delegations indicating more wide spread opposition, then it will likely take some time to calculate whether the objections reflect one-third of the assessed property value. If this is the case, Council may wish to conclude the Court of Revision and have staff calculate the level of opposition. Recommendation C offers a way for staff to provide additional advice prior to Council deciding on the BIA application.

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver