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 Marpole 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, and 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 Marpole Business and Landlord's Association (MBLA) 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 MBLA as sponsor of, and to commence a Council Initiative for, the proposed Marpole BIA, and to forward the BIA application to the Court of Revision.

BACKGROUND

The Marpole Business and Landlord's Association was originally formed around 1970 as the Marpole Business Association, and incorporated as a non-profit society in 1982. In recent years, the association has used the longer title to reflect the participation of its property-owner members. Over the years, the MBLA has initiated a number of projects, including the Granville Street beautification completed in the 1980s. The MBLA has also taken an advocacy role on behalf of its members, on issues such as the Granville Rapid Bus and pedestrian priority measures for Granville Street.

In June 1998, the MBLA approached the City with the intention of sponsoring a BIA application, and in January 1999 its membership voted to proceed with the application. The MBLA believes a BIA will help the association achieve its aspirations for the Marpole business district.

DISCUSSION

The proposed Marpole BIA is comprised of the eight blocks of Granville Street between 63rd Avenue, on the north, and 71st Avenue, on the south. A map of the proposed boundary is attached as Appendix A.

The MBLA proposes a Year 1 budget of $75,000.00, representing an annual levy rate of $1.25 per $1,000.00 of assessed property value. A copy of the proposed budget is attached for information as Appendix B.

Outreach Activities

Since July of this year, the MBLA has been actively working toward the present BIA application. In August, the MBLA began conducting outreach activities to commercial tenants and property owners by mailout (in English and Chinese), public information meetings, and direct contact. In September, the MBLA distributed 200 surveys to property owners and tenants, receiving back 66 written responses: 50 in favour (12 owners; 38 tenants) 4 against (0 owners; 4 tenants) and 12 tenants `not sure'. A further public information meeting was held in late September. Based on the returned surveys and their general outreach, the MBLA believes the BIA proposal is generally supported.

The MBLA formally applied to the City for consideration of a BIA on October 14, 1999. A copy of their application letter and documentation of their outreach activities is attached as Appendix C (limited distribution; on file in the City Clerk's Office).

If approved as sponsor for the proposed Marpole BIA, the MBLA will amend its existing by-laws to conform with the City's requirements.

Staff Comments - Outreach and Support

Staff are satisfied that the MBLA has notified all property owners and tenants within the proposed BIA boundaries. Staff attended four public information meetings, held at Characters Books, the TD Bank, and Marpole Place, at which a total of 20 people were present. However, aside from MBLA directors, only 11 other people attended the meetings. The MBLA believes that the low attendance rate is due to competing priorities rather than lack of interest or support for a BIA. Also, as three of the four meetings took place in late August, people may have been away on vacation. However, low attendance at public information meetings is not unique to the MBLA proposal.

The MBLA survey of owners and businesses is probably the best indication of support at this time. As the survey was delivered to 50 property owners and approximately 150 businesses within the proposed BIA, the return rate is 24% from owners and 36% from tenants. This is a very good response rate, due in part to the efforts of MBLA `block merchants' to collect completed surveys. If the survey results (p. 3) are representative of owners and tenants generally, it would indicate a relatively low level of opposition.

At the instruction of staff, the MBLA notices contained the name and telephone number of the City's BIA Coordinator. To date, the Coordinator has received no telephone calls or other correspondence indicating opposition to the BIA.

CONCLUSION

The Marpole Business and Landlords Association is requesting that Council consider approval of the proposed Marpole BIA, and has asked that their application be forwarded by way of Council Initiative, to a Court of Revision, in order that they may commence operations as a BIA in April, 2000. The results of MBLA outreach activities indicate only minimal opposition at this stage in the process.

NOTE FROM CLERK: ELECTRONIC COPIES OF APPENDICES NOT AVAILABLE -ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK.

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