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Nanaimo council supports formation of new business improvement area for Old City Quarter

Petition asks business owners to pay tax levy for promotional, improvement fund for area
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Eric McLean, president of the old City Quarter Association, is delighted by a city decision to move forward with creating a business improvement association his association will administer. (TAMARA CUNNINGHAM/News Bulletin)

Nanaimo’s Old City Quarter Association is one step closer to controlling tax levies from property owners of its downtown retail district with a city decision to put it in charge of a new business improvement area.

Now the creation of a new business improvement association is in the hands of Old City Quarter property owners, who’ll weigh in this week on whether they want to pay a tax levy.

Old City Quarter, once BIA2, previously paid levies into a pot administered by the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Association, tasked with revitalization of the downtown core. Earlier this year Eric McLean, Old City Quarter Association president, advocated to get control of that money believing his association is better equipped to decide how to spend the fund.

With the dissolution of the DNBIA in March, McLean said there’s no organization to receive or administer funds from BIA1 — an area that includes Victoria Crescent, Terminal Avenue and Commercial Street — and BIA2, “so that’s why our organization, which has been going longer than any of them, we decided that we should apply to control the funds in our own area, which is what we wanted for a long time.”

He was delighted when Nanaimo city council agreed last week to have staff members work with the Old City Quarter Association to establish an Old City Quarter BIA for five years, beginning in 2017. The boundaries of the new business improvement area will mimic what was previously in place for the Old City Quarter and is estimated to generate more than $40,000, a city report shows.

There will be no matching grant from the city. Like the DNBIA, the association would have responsibilities such as improving, beautifying or maintaining streets and sidewalks, conserving heritage properties and encouraging business.

It will speed up the things the Old City Quarter wants to do and allow for a focus on the area, said McLean, adding that it was a small part of the DNBIA so didn’t have the same clout.

“It allows the focus more on the area and our plans to promote it ‘cause everyone that’s involved in it will be in the area, we won’t be relying or depending on other folks from outside our area having controlling interests over what we do,” he said.

Carol Surtel, owner of Sweet Somethings, thinks it’s a good idea. She said there needs to be more focus on the Old City Quarter area and that money put in will “stay with us.”

Elaine Schaffer, owner of Crispin Shoes, said she thinks it’s better that there’s control of their own money, which she hopes to see put toward advertising and promotion for the area and events.

“We need to pull in the traffic and if we had our own money, we might have more say in what events we could have or advertising, just a little bit more control over drawing people to the area,” she said.

At least 50 per cent of the property owners have to sign a petition in favor of paying a local area service tax for a BIA to be established. The deadline is Friday (May 5).