Sechelt council adopted a new bylaw April 19 that will establish a five-year downtown Business Improvement Area (BIA) and authorize collection of up to $70,000 from related properties as an annual service tax.
The Sechelt Downtown Business Association (SDBA) levy of $70,000, applied each year between 2017 and 2021, will be split between 116 parcels within the BIA, which includes 195 businesses. Small properties will pay less, large ones more.
The SDBA has said it will hold an open forum to evaluate its activities.
“I hope the Downtown Business Association can indicate to people that land values and businesses improve when there are more people downtown,” said Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne.
Coun. Darnelda Siegers suggested that petitioners’ content, not names, be shared with the SDBA to help it build more support for the levy over the next four years.
Coun. Darren Inkster said he hopes the SDBA will reach out to those who had concerns and will network with businesses to show them what the association does. “We have a fantastic downtown core,” he said. “This [bylaw] opens up a new era for this organization to do more.”
The non-profit SDBA will use the new monies to market events and projects, promote and advocate for downtown businesses and implement community projects related to economic development and downtown revitalization.
A 30-day petition period, ending April 3, was offered to those who opposed the levy. Only parcel owners within the BIA were allowed to send in counter-petitions. At least 50 per cent of them, representing at least 50 per cent of the total value of properties within the BIA, had to send in a petition to stop the levy.
Thirty-five signed petitions were submitted to the district by the deadline. This represented 30 per cent of parcels and 28 per cent of the total assessed value of properties within the BIA, said Sechelt corporate officer Jo-Anne Frank.
The district also received 15 letters of petition against the BIA levy from business owners who weren’t eligible to submit counter-petitions. These represented eight per cent of the total businesses, she said.
