ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: November 30, 1999
Author: P.Vaisbord 871-6304
RTS No. 00939
CC File No. 8313
P&E Date: December 16, 1999

TO:	Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
FROM:	Director of City Plans
SUBJECT:	Approval of Council Initiative - Proposed Fraser Street BIA

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Council approve the Fraser Business Association as sponsor for the proposed Fraser Street BIA.

B. THAT Council approve the commencement of a Council Initiative to establish the proposed Fraser Street BIA, and that Council forward the application of the Fraser Business Association to a hearing of the Court of Revision.

C. THAT the City notify the property owners and tenants in the area (outlined in Appendix A) of the proposed BIA and BIA levy.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

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 Fraser Business Association (FBA) 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 FBA as sponsor of, and to commence a Council Initiative for, the proposed Fraser Street BIA, and to forward the BIA application to the Court of Revision.

BACKGROUND

Fraser Street businesses and property owners have been active for many years. In the 1960s they worked with the City to create customer parking spaces west of Fraser Street between 43rd and 49th Avenues. The Fraser Business Association was formed in 1984 and incorporated as a non-profit society in 1988 to promote business on Fraser Street south of 33rd Avenue. The FBA was instrumental in establishing one of the City's first community policing offices, has organized several annual street cleaning events, and has worked with the City to enforce sanitation by-laws in rear lanes. The FBA has published a neighbourhood business directory, and has been working with the City to address on-street parking issues and identify improvements for pedestrians within the Fraser Street shopping district.

In June 1999, the FBA approached the City with the intention of sponsoring a BIA application. The FBA hopes that a BIA will help improve business vitality on Fraser Street.

DISCUSSION

The proposed Fraser Street BIA comprises the ten blocks of Fraser Street between 41st Avenue, on the north, and 51st Avenue, on the south. A map of the proposed boundary is attached as Appendix A.

The FBA proposes a Year 1 budget of $120,000.00, representing an annual levy rate of $1.63 per $1,000.00 of assessed property value. A copy of the proposed budget is attached for information as Appendix B.

Outreach Activities

Since Spring of 1998, the FBA has been actively working toward the present BIA application. Articles discussing the BIA proposal first appeared last year in the April 9, 1998 and June 10, 1998 supplement to the Vancouver Echo. In August of this year, the FBA began conducting outreach activities to commercial tenants and property owners by mailouts, public information meetings, and direct contact. In September, it publicised the BIA proposal through its newsletter, FBA Voice. The proposal was also covered in the September 12, 1999 edition of Sing Tao Daily and the September 15, 1999 supplement to the Vancouver Echo. A notice with photo also appeared in the September, 1999 issue of The Link, a newspaper serving the Punjabi community. As part of its outreach, the FBA distributed surveys to 107 property owners and 206 business tenants, receiving back only 14 written responses: 5 in favour (1 owner; 4 tenants), 3 against (1 owner; 2 tenants), and 6 requiring further information. In November, the FBA began a follow-up telephone survey; as of the date of this report, the FBA had contacted 36 property owners and 24 business tenants. The FBA reports the results of the latter survey as: 50 in favour (30 owners; 20 tenants), and 10 against (6 owners; 4 tenants). Based on the surveys and their general outreach, the FBA believes the BIA proposal is generally supported.

The FBA formally applied to the City for consideration of a BIA on November 10, 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 Fraser Street BIA, the FBA will amend its existing by-laws to conform with the City's requirements.

Staff Comments - Outreach and Support

Staff are satisfied that the FBA has notified all property owners and tenants within the proposed BIA boundaries. Staff attended three public information meetings, held in August and September 1999, at the Sunset Community Centre and the 89 Inn Restaurant, at which a total of 23 people were in attendance. However, aside from FBA directors, only 9 other people attended the meetings. The FBA believes that the low attendance rate is due to competing priorities rather than lack of interest or support for a BIA. Lower attendance at public information meetings is not unique to the FBA proposal.

As 107 property owners and 206 businesses received an FBA survey form, the owner response rate is very low, and unlikely to be representative. The FBA telephone survey is probably the best indication of support at this time. Approximately 34% of property owners and 10 % of business tenants were contacted. If the results (p. 3) are representative ofowners and tenants generally, it would indicate an opposition rate of 16.5% for both property owners and businesses.

At the instruction of staff, the FBA notices contained the name and telephone number of the City's BIA Coordinator. The Coordinator received calls from one property owner and one business, both opposing the BIA on the ground that the proposed levy would be an unnecessary financial burden.

Two completed surveys were faxed to the City marked `do not support'; these were redirected to the FBA. One of these was from the property owner indicated above.

CONCLUSION

The Fraser Business Association is requesting that Council consider approval of the proposed Fraser Street 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 FBA outreach activities indicate moderate opposition at this stage in the process.

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

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver