Sylvie Paillard
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A downtown business initiative first suggested over a decade ago may be weeks away from going through. Downtown commercial property owners have until April 17 to tell the District of Squamish they don't want the downtown to be designated a Business Improvement Area (BIA). And unless 51 per cent speak up, the BIA will be a reality. Stakeholders on both sides of the fence, however, say they believe the initiative will go through, despite the fact that a BIA proposal was quashed almost before it begun a decade ago.
"I think a lot of property owners and business owners have changed since," said Dan McRae, with process facilitator the Squamish Sustainability Corp. "Obviously the economy in general and demographics of the community have changed."
McRae helped organize a Community Futures Development survey of commercial tenants and landowners last summer, and while 250 questionnaires went out, only 78 responded. But many of the responses were positive.
Overall, 82 per cent of returned surveys showed support of the BIA, and 72 per cent of landowners were in support. There was also "substantial opposition" from gateway area landowners and the Chieftain Centre Mall, according to a Sustainability Corp. report.
Wilf Dowad was, until recently, a longtime downtown property owner. He said he and many others oppose the BIA because it will not improve downtown shopping and the taxes levied for the plan will do nothing but increase.
"So what are you going to do? You're going to have a parade everyday? Or you're going to have a band strumming a guitar down the street? This doesn't bring business. I mean, it's kind of nice, but it doesn't bring business. The problem is very simple, there's not enough people here to do the shopping," he said. "And the history of local governments is they never reduce taxes, they always make it more. They might start off with a small amount, but once it starts you can't stop it."
Dowad said he remembers what happened last time a BIA was suggested.
"It never went this far," said Dowad. "We had a meeting and we just about had a fistfight."
Dowad said he suspects the BIA will go through this time because downtown business owners 10 years ago were "more down to earth" than many of those today. They realized that keeping costs down was crucial to a business's survival, he said. The manner in which the initiative is being voted on also favours the pro side, said Dowad. It's the landowners, not the tenants, who must retrieve a form from city hall to petition against the initiative.
"A lot of the owners live in Vancouver so it's improbable they'll come all the way up here, so the whole thing is slanted," he said.The method of petition is a standard process called council initiative and is in place for a good reason, said McRae.
"In 90 per cent of the time, BIAs are formed under council initiatives because most times you have business associations, much like the Squamish Town Centre Association (STCA), who are volunteer groups of business owners who all run their own businesses and it would be difficult for those individuals to go out of town and chase down property owners who may be disconnected from the community, if you will," he said.
If the BIA goes through, the businesses along Loggers Lane, Cleveland Avenue and Second Avenue from Winnipeg to Westminster Street will pay a levy of $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed value for an average annual accumulation of $45,000. The money will be used in part to hire staff and consultants, apply for government grants, programs and services, develop a promotional program and initiate beautification projects.
Eric Armour, owner of Trinity Romance on Second Avenue and a member of the STCA, said he fully supports the initiative and the tax is worth the anticipated return.
"Myself for example may see a $20 increase in rent," said Armour. "If the BIA increases my sales by half a sale a month it has paid for itself."
