On Tuesday, Asheville City Council members will spend an hour listening to the public on whether to create a new business improvement district (BID) downtown.
The BID, proposed by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Asheville Downtown Association, would raise an estimated $1.25 million in additional tax revenue for beautification, cleanup and public safety initiatives, which would be funded by a new property tax of $0.0919 per $100 of taxable value on properties in the downtown district.
The plan also includes a group of eight to 16 “ambassadors,” uniformed in polo shirts, who will clean up downtown areas and interact with the public, from tourists asking for directions to at-risk homeless people.
“We see downtown Asheville as the economic hub of the region,” said Zach Wallace, the chamber's vice president of public policy, “and we want everyone who's downtown — workers, business owners, visitors, employees — to have the best experience they can.”
But not everyone believes the BID will improve life downtown.
Samuel Garner, owner of Asheville Crafted Edge, a kitchen supply store that sells custom knives on Eagle Street in downtown Asheville, said he welcomes help in keeping the area around his store clean but has doubts about the proposal.
Garner said he was concerned about whether BID-funded ambassadors would be able to adequately engage with homeless people, particularly those experiencing mental health crises.
“The police can't do anything. You just call the police or whatever service you need,” he said. “I can do that too. So will that just inundate an already overstretched police department with more calls?”
The Community Responder Program, an expanded partnership between Buncombe County's Community Paramedic Program and the Asheville Fire Department, will be better equipped to respond to homeless people and those experiencing mental health crises, Garner said.
“They don't wear uniforms, they don't have badges, they're less intimidating looking than police officers, and so they can respond to mental health crises better than police departments,” he said of local emergency responders.
Asheville Crafted Edge owner Samuel Garner (left) stands in front of his store with Cats at Play Cafe owner Lisa Fox.
Hayden Plemmons, president of the Asheville Downtown Association, said the association's annual survey of downtown stakeholders found that “the overwhelming majority believe a BID would have a positive impact on downtown.”
“The services that residents are most interested in and want to pay for are the ones that are clean and safe,” she said. “So those are the people on the streets with pressure washers, picking up trash, removing graffiti, and people who can connect residents to services downtown.”
The Asheville Downtown Association conducted a survey of 410 downtown stakeholders, according to a presentation at the meeting.
According to the survey, 75.3% of respondents would consider paying for improved safety and customer service, and 74.3% would consider paying for enhanced cleaning. Fewer than 11% of respondents believe Downtown Asheville would benefit from a BID, according to the survey.
The study was criticized by City Councilwoman Kim Roney at the March 26 City Council meeting.
“I couldn't help but notice that 23% of Asheville residents participated in the survey compared to 4% of downtown residents, so we're hearing a lot of concerns from commercial and residential renters about outreach to downtown residents,” Roney said.
At left are Hayden Plemmons, president of the Asheville Downtown Association, and Zach Wallace, vice president of public policy for the Asheville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The Asheville Chamber of Commerce funded a feasibility study for the BID in 2023. It also launched a website with key documents and talking points for the proposal. If the city approves the plan, the Chamber has asked the BID to reimburse it $200,000 over four years for the feasibility study and planning.
The chamber also created an assessment calculator to show property owners the annual fees they can expect: For a $500,000 property, the annual tax would be about $460.
Jonathan Liebowitz, owner of Manicomio Pizza, a commercial tenant on Biltmore Avenue, said he supports the additional tax.
“If you want to own property and make a profit from that ownership, you should also contribute to making downtown a better place for the people who are here every day,” he said.
Not everyone agrees with the BID's proposed leadership
One of the hot-button points in the BID debate is the composition of the board that would manage the district and its funding.
Under the current proposal, the BID would be managed by a 15-member board of directors made up primarily of local property owners. Under state law, if the BID is approved, the city will issue a request for proposals to parties interested in managing the BID.
Representatives from the chamber of commerce and the Downtown Association said they plan to submit an application to jointly manage the BID.
Critics of the BID, including Garner, have raised concerns that under the current proposal, there would be a lack of proper oversight because only one board member would be elected.
The Board is made up primarily of commercial property owners, including:
3 Major Commercial Property Owners (total taxable value of $1.5 million or more) 2 Large Commercial Property Owners (total taxable value of $500,000 to $1.5 million) 2 Small Commercial Property Owners (total taxable value of less than $500,000) 2 Residents (who own a residence that is their primary residence within the district) 1 Resident Tenant (who rents their primary residence within the district) • 1 Retail Tenant • 1 Food and Beverage Tenant • 1 Office Tenant • 1 General Resident • 1 Elected Representative
Ex-officio, or non-voting, directors include:
Mayor or designee County Mayor or designee Downtown Commission representative Asheville City Council representative
The original proposal had a 14-member board with no elected members. The changes announced Sunday added elected members and required all board members to be local. The changes relaxed requirements on commercial property value — five board seats originally required board members to own downtown property worth between $4 million and $1.5 million — and replaced an ex-officio seat originally designated for Explore Asheville with a representative from the Asheville City Council.
At the March 26 City Council meeting, Councilman Sage Turner said he supports a BID but questioned why commercial property owners hold a majority of the seats on the board.
“We need to do a more equitable effort to make sure that people who don't have the wealth or the access have a seat at the table,” Turner said. “I want something more balanced.”
Ronnie also expressed concern about the committee. “Another unelected committee overseeing taxes is creating an allergic reaction among the public because healthy debate and reality has yet to be established about the TA budget,” he said.
Butch Beck, who lives in a rented home downtown and works in the service industry, complained about an unelected board managing taxpayer money.
Butch Beck, who lives in a rented house downtown, sits behind the bar at Sparky's Valdega.
“We're already dealing with issues like the TDA, where our tax dollars are being spent on things that we think don't serve our community at all,” he said, adding that the ambassador program “will further persecute the homeless and people in need downtown.”
Patrick Conant, founder of the government transparency group Sunshine Labs, said concerns about the BID are similar to issues with the Tourist Development Authority (TDA), the quasi-government agency that manages Buncombe County's lodging tax fund.
“When the nonprofit Explore Asheville was formed, the TDA board clearly stated in meeting minutes that the organization would be run as a public agency of the state of North Carolina. But until last year, [we] The company filed a public records request for employee pay, but Explore Asheville fought it a bit. They said these employees aren't actually government employees, they work for the nonprofit.”
What next?
Asheville City Council will hold one public hearing on the BID. For the BID to be approved, the proposal must go through a public hearing and two readings. The two readings are tentatively scheduled for May 14 and June 11.
Conant doesn't think one public hearing is enough: In an open letter titled “Open the lid on the bidding,” he criticized the bidding process for lacking accountability, transparency and opportunity for public input.
“The city's current plan is to allow for the legally required minimum amount of private comment on bid proposals,” Conant told BPR in an interview, “and I feel very strongly that that's a mistake. I think that as the city considers new programs, new policies and certainly municipal service districts, the City Council should provide multiple opportunities for the public to comment.”
The hearing will begin at 4 p.m. and will be held at Harrah's Cherokee Center, a change from the council's usual starting time and location.
City spokeswoman Kim Miller said the location was initially changed “to accommodate several agenda items that were subject to public comment.” Since then, several agenda items have been moved to other agenda items, including a long-awaited public hearing on the Haw Creek development plan.
To avoid any confusion, the city decided to hold the meeting at Harrah's, Miller explained.
After the legally required public hearings concluded, the city is under no obligation to seek public input before these votes and has not indicated any plans to do so.
In an emailed statement, Miller said the City Council could decide whether to extend the public comment period, but that no decision has been made to do so at this time.
“Currently, no decisions have been made to change the duration of the public hearing. If the need arises, council will consider granting additional time during the hearing process,” she said.