Key leaders support downtown initiatives

Also by Mina Mineva

Mayor Darwin Hindman and First Ward City Council Representative Paul Sturtz endorsed two new initiatives aimed at improving Columbia’s downtown, including a revamped management structure and the establishment of a half-cent sales tax inside the district.

The boards of the Special Business District, funded primarily through property taxes, and the affiliated Central Columbia Association, funded through merchants’ dues, voted separately on May 21 to merge the two non-profit organizations into a Community Improvement District.

The groups agreed to draft a petition for establishing a CID that would get its annual funding roughly doubled, to an estimated $480,000, with sales tax revenue. The general plan is to improve the downtown’s environment and its economy as well as its marketing and events. The city’s mall and major shopping centers already have a special half-cent sales tax administered by Transportation Development Districts.

“The quality of a city is often defined by its downtown and we believe this is the case with Columbia,” Mike Vangel, chairman of the CID steering committee, said during a CBT Power Lunch forum on May 26. “We want The District to be clean, safe and attractive.”

Also during the forum, the Downtown Leadership Council’s chairman, Nick Peckham, released the group’s interim report on downtown renewal, which includes recommendations on design goals and development standards.

Asked for his view of the two initiatives, Hindman said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity. I’m supportive of it in every way possible. What’s good for downtown is good for the community as a whole.”

“I agree with the mayor,” Sturtz said. “These are both very exciting.” The sales tax levy would bring in about $300,000 on top of about $150,000 in property tax revenue for the CID budget, which Sturtz called “reasonable.”

The Downtown Leadership Council’s report to the City Council “is a really impressive accomplishment,” he added.

Hindman said after the Columbia Mall opened in 1985, when he as a member of the SBD, “the downtown became kind of a depressed area. People were selling out. They were moving their businesses to the mall. There basically was a panic in the downtown area.”

Mary Wilkerson, a member of the DLC who is on the SBD board, said the area is in a period of resurgence and called the two initiatives discussed during the forum “the tip of the iceberg of what’s going on downtown. There is this wonderful momentum taking place, with a lot of different people involved.”

But Wilkerson said the downtown needs to attract more merchants and residents.

“”I challenge you to walk around downtown right now and see how much empty space there is,” Wilkerson said.

The City Council formed the 16-member DLC last year, and members include representatives of adjoining neighborhoods, the University of Missouri, Columbia College and Stephens College, Boone County, Regional Economic Development Inc., and several city agencies.

The DLC members studied an expanded “downtown;” the borders are Business Loop 70 to the north, Old Highway 63 to the east, Garth Avenue to the west and Stewart Road/University Avenue to the south.

They divided the area into quadrants and the members were assigned to teams of four to walk each quadrant group and categorize the properties. They then listed assets, challenges and opportunities.

The group recommended that the city encourage the development of multi-use, multi-story buildings offering retail, commercial and residential functions, but also said the historic character should be preserved. Peckham said a key recommendation is to hire a consultant to conduct urban design charrettes, a term for intense period of activity involving all stakeholders.

Peckham estimated the cost of conducting the design workshops in two sections of downtown at $80,000-$100,000, which Sturtz said was reasonable.

The proposal to form a CID and levy a sales tax is likely to be more controversial.

“There are people who don’t like taxes, and that’s perfectly fine,” Wilkerson said. “We have found out that when we have conversations with people that if we can show or demonstrate where the money is going and what is going to be doing, they tend to feel a lot better. If you sit down and really show them, they say ‘Oh, we really need that.”’

Sturtz said the proposed CID budget of about $500,000 “is not too extreme” and Vangel said committee members are “very optimistic” that the CID proposal will be adopted.

“There are lots of places you can choose to open a business, run a business and spend your money in Columbia, Mo.,” Vangel said. “We want the district to be the first that comes to people’s minds when they think of this community and business.”

Merchants who don’t own property or live downtown would not have a role in the petitioning process or seats on the board. But Wilkerson said merchants would have more representation with a CID than in the current system and would benefit from larger marketing and event budgets.

The CID steering committee decided against expanding the borders of the CID beyond the existing Special Business District, Vangel said. But he pointed out that the rules allow property owners to petition for inclusion, which he called a fairly easy process.

The SBD was created in 1979, encompasses 43 blocks and has raised about $200,000 per year through special assessments to finance services including beatification, business recruitment, economic development and historic preservation.

The steering committee’s report said the CID would allow costs to be spread more equitably between all downtown property owners, business owners and customers, provide a stronger management structure and create more diversified revenue streams and tools.

“Based on property and business owner feedback from interviews and surveys, the CID priorities would include funding to enhance downtown’s environment and economy to include maintenance and safety initiatives, capital improvements, economic development, communications and advocacy programs,” according to the report. Possible initiatives to enhance the downtown economy listed in the report include:

• marketing research to understand both consumer and investor opportunities for downtown,
• the creation of investor marketing information to educate entrepreneurs on downtown opportunities,
• consumer marketing to reinforce “The District” brand and to generate foot traffic and drive sales,
• enhancement of The District Web site,
• merchant promotions and direct merchant assistance, including merchandising and storefront window display,
• holiday promotions and special events that leverage marketing efforts to attract customers and investors to downtown.

What is a CID?

A Community Improvement District is a group of downtown property and business owners who will provide funding intended to improve downtown’s environment and economy, including maintenance and safety initiatives, economic development, capital improvements, and communication and advocacy programs. The CID would replace the Special Business District and Central Columbia Association.

Who would govern the CID?

• An advisory board of up to 15 property owners, business owners and registered voters in the district, which would be a political subdivision of the city government.
• A CID committee would nominate candidates and submit them to the mayor. The mayor, with the City Council’s consultation, would either appoint the nominees or return the slate to the nominating committee.

What are the steps to forming a CID?

• Organizers would need to submit petitions from property owners who collectively own more than 50 percent of all property in the district and more than 50 percent per capita of all owners of property within the district.
• The City Council would need to approve a CID after a public hearing.
• Registered voters living in the district would need to approve the levy of an additional half-cent sales tax.

What is the Downtown Leadership Council recommending?

• The Planning and Zoning Commission, City Council and the City should encourage downtown development of mixed-use, multi-story buildings offering retail, commercial and residential functions.
• The historic downtown character should be preserved through adaptive re-use and protection of existing assets.
• The economic incentives in the downtown area – including Tax Increment Financing and Transportation Development Districts – should adhere to an architectural design review process.
• Downtown should be more walkable.
• The decision-making process in the use of economic incentives, eminent domain and zoning changes should be transparent and predictable.
• The City Council should hire an appropriate consultant to conduct urban design charrettes, an intense period of design activity involving all stakeholders. The forged consensus would reveal the community’s norms for development patterns and design plans.

Downtown’s boundaries defined by the DLC:

• North: Business Loop 70
• East: Old Highway 63
• West: Garth Avenue
• South: Stewart Road/University Avenue

Rough boundaries for the recommended charrette areas:

• Broadway/Providence charrette area:
  • North: Park Avenue
  • East: Sixth Street
  • West: Garth Avenue
  • South: Elm Street
• Broadway/College charrette area:
  • North: Hinkson Avenue
  • East: Tenth Street
  • West: Willis Avenue
  • South: Elm Street

POWER LUNCH PARTICIPANTS

PRESENTERS:

• Nick Peckham, member, Downtown Columbia Leadership Council
• Mike Vangel, chair, Community Improvement District Steering Committee

PARTICIPANTS:

• Bernie Andrews, member, Downtown Columbia Leadership Council
• Joe Bonge, commercial lender, The Callaway Bank
• Randy Gray, member, Downtown Columbia Leadership Council
• Byron Hill, chairman-elect, Columbia Chamber of Commerce
• Darwin Hindman, mayor, city of Columbia
• Debbie LaRue, director of marketing and public relations, The Callaway Bank
• Gary Meyerpeter, president, Boone County Market, The Callaway Bank
• Glenn Rice, member, Downtown Columbia Leadership Council
• Phil Steinhaus, member, Downtown Columbia Leadership Council
• Paul Sturtz, 1st Ward Representative, City Council
• Bill Watkins, city manager, City of Columbia
• Mary Wilkerson, member, Downtown Columbia Leadership Council