ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: November 30, 1999
Author: P.Vaisbord 871-6304
RTS No. 01168
CC File No. 8300
P&E Date: December 16, 1999

TO:	Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
FROM:	Director of City Plans
SUBJECT:	Business Improvement Area (BIA) Program

INFORMATION

The General Manager of Community Services Submits this report for INFORMATION.

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, adopted October 14, 1997, is as follows:

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

This report outlines the BIA process and summarizes the recent applications to establish new BIAs.

BACKGROUND

The City assists business districts by helping property owners and merchants to form BIAs, by helping with renewals and expansions, and by facilitating the annual BIA funding process. BIAs provide a way for property owners and businesses to join together to promote and improve the economic vitality of their business district. The City collects a BIA levy from all commercial properties in the area, and forwards the entire amount to the BIA to fund business improvement initiatives. Example initiatives include beautification, such as banners, street furniture, and graffiti removal; safety and security initiatives, including security patrols and panhandling programs; and promotional activities such as advertising and special events.

Between 1989 and 1991, Council approved the first five Vancouver BIAs -- Gastown, Mount Pleasant, Downtown, Robson Street, and Kerrisdale. Until 1999, no further BIAs had been established. Other areas had indicated an interest in forming a BIA, or had tried but failed to complete the onerous approval process.

Until October 1997, the process for establishing a BIA required a petition of support from at least 50 percent of owners, and a tenant survey, before Council would consider hearing an application to form a BIA. This requirement proved to be an insurmountable task in most areas.

In October 1997, Council approved simplifying the BIA process to proceed by way of a Council Initiative that does not require a petition. If Council approves a "Council Initiative", notices are delivered to all commercial property owners and tenants within the proposed BIA boundaries. The BIA will not proceed if one-third of the property owners, representing one-third of the assessed property value, or one third of the tenants, counted separately, oppose the BIA. The current process is attached as Appendix A.

The first use of the new process was the proposed expansion of the Downtown Vancouver BIA, which was approved in January 1998. In February 1999, Council approved the first three new BIAs under this process: Davie Village, South Granville, andYaletown. Final determination of a fourth BIA proposal, Chinatown, is pending the outcome of a re-poll of property owners requested by Council.

DISCUSSION

The success of the three new BIAs under the Initiative process has generated considerable interest in other commercial districts, four of which are currently seeking Council approval to commence BIA operations by April 1, 2000. The four proposed BIAs are Commercial Drive, Fraser Street, Marpole and Strathcona Area. As of the date of this Report, two additional areas - Collingwood and West Fourth Avenue - have expressed the intention of establishing BIAs for the following year (April 2001).

The following is a summary of the BIAs proposed for April 1, 2000. Each will be reported individually.

Proposed BIA Sponsor Society (Applicant) Proposed Budget

Chinatown (re-poll) Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Assn. $90,000 (year 1)
Commercial Drive Commercial Drive Business Society $100,000 (year 1)
Fraser Street Fraser Business Association $120,000 (year 1)
Marpole Marpole Business and Landlord's Assn. $75,000 (year 1)
Strathcona Area Strathcona Area Merchants Society $250,000 (year 1)

For information, the proposed year 2000 budgets for the existing BIAs range from $74,000 (Davie Village) to $1,800,000 (Downtown Vancouver). The combined budgets proposed for the existing BIAs for the year 2000 is approximately $3.2 million. If all five new BIAs are approved, the combined BIA levies for 2000 would total nearly $3.9 million, a significant amount of money for the City's business improvement associations to use to provide enhanced services to property owners and merchants.

CONCLUSION

Council will be requested to consider Council Initiatives for five new BIAs. As anticipated, Council's approval of a streamlined BIA process has encouraged more groups to attempt to form BIAs. If approved at a Court of Revision, the BIAs would commence operation April 1, 2000.

NOTE FROM CLERK: ELECTRONIC COPY OF APPENDIX A IS NOT AVAILABLE -ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver