A petition has been filed with the City to form a Central Improvement District otherwise known as Business Improvement District (BID) in the Argenta area of downtown North Little Rock. A BID is an area where the property owners agree to pay an assessment collected by Pulaski County on the annual property tax bill to pay for public improvements in the District. As an example, the Baker House B&B will pay about $1700 for their assessment per year starting in 2010 that would go to the District. By State law at least 2/3 of the property owners (as measured by assesed value) must sign the petition for it to be approved and as of today well over 70% have signed.
This shows a real committment by the downtown property owners to pay for improvements they want downtown. This is the only district of it's type in North Little Rock and is a big step in the future of downtown.
Click on Read More for the BID boundaries and improvements list.
Ths District includes the area generally bounded by Broadway, 8th Street, one-half block east of Main Street and one-half block west of Maple Street. The general improvements that can be considered by the BID include
(i) PUBLIC SAFETY: Provide for management of a safe downtown by providing Ambassadors to patrol the Proposed District and assist area residents, business persons, customers, visitors, and others with information and supervision.
(ii) AESTHETIC IMPROVEMENT: Provide for management of a beautiful downtown by providing Ambassadors to plant and maintain flowerbeds, pots, hanging baskets, and other improvements including weed control and maintenance activities.
(iii) HEALTH AND SANITATION: Provide for management of a clean downtown by providing Ambassadors for litter removal, gum removal, sidewalk power washing, graffiti removal, cleaning of street appurtenances, and related tasks using new equipment such as sidewalk sweepers, power washers, street vacuums, and hand tools.
(iv) PROMOTION AND MARKETING: Provide for management to promote and market the arts such as performance, musical, literary, visual, spoken word, culinary, and other cultural and sports related activities and venues through events and programs in the Proposed District that inspire, educate, inform, and entertain.
(v) GENERAL PURPOSE: Administration, management, and personnel for all things now or hereafter permitted under applicable law, including, without limitation, A.C.A. §14-184-115 to be done and performed by central business improvement districts.
Look for this petition to be on the agenda for the next City Council meeting. For a copy of the BID petiton click here.
Tag it:
Comments (5)
Party time Written by Eric Francis, on 27-08-2009 09:24 So, can I apply for the post of Argenta's Ambassador to the United Nations?
Sorry, couldn't resist (and probably should have).
But seriously, kudos to our downtown businesses for taking this on. Something I'd really like to see done is for Argenta to host one, big, annual festival on Main Street. Something along the lines of the city's centennial party a few years back. Hold it in the spring - summer's too hot and fall's too crowded.
Anyway, that's my two cents. More cents will be spent along Main Street to help our businesses pay the BID tax.
Petition Written by NLR Guy, on 27-08-2009 14:21 Is the list of signers a public record and if so could you post it to your site? It would be nice to see all the supporters of the BID.
To Big to Scan Written by scottmiller, on 28-08-2009 07:38 Each petition was 5-7 pages as I recall and each property owner signed individually. Thus there were several hundred pages of petitions. To much to scan. They were filed with the City Clerks office and I believe you can ask to see them down at City Hall. If you want to ask about an individual business I amy know. E-mail me.
Businesses only? Written by angry guy, on 28-08-2009 16:18 or all property owners in the neighborhood? I have not seen this petition going around. Was this one of the recomendations by the urban study we have paid so much for over the years? You mean the extra city tax revenue collected from the inland maritime museum and the salty parrot hasn't generated enough revenue to cover these extra costs? Perhaps the mayor should be more responsible with his spending and then none of us would have to pay any extra taxes. Just a thought. Scott, can I sign the petition at the city clerks office, or is this strictly for business owners only? Will businesses have to raise their prices to cover the additional taxes?
Property Owners Written by scottmiller, on 28-08-2009 16:25 State Law says it is only applicable to property owners. If you lease, it is not applicable to you. Also you must be IN the District boundaries. Do you lease or own property and are you in the District Boundaries? As far as I know ALL all properties owners in the District were reached out to personally.
Only registered users can write comments. Please login or register.
Comments (5)
