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March 20, 1997

Pitt, local businesses cooperating to revitalize commercial district

Pitt and neighboring businesses are working together on a BID to revitalize Oakland's commercial district.

A BID (business improvement district) is an authority that provides security, litter control, marketing and other services beyond those provided by city government. The city, in turn, agrees to maintain its existing services, such as street cleaning and trash collection.

About 1,000 BIDS have been formed in the United States — including the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership in 1994 — during the last two decades, according to the Pennsylvania Economy League.

To finance supplemental services, businesses and institutions within a BID's boundaries agree to pay an extra assessment that they themselves set. The biggest players within the proposed Oakland BID would be The University and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center System (UPMCS).

Pitt and UPMCS have not yet negotiated their BID assessments with other district participants. But University and medical center officials say they would expect to get credit for supplemental services that they already provide, such as police patrols.

"Details have not yet been resolved, but all of the information that I have received indicates that this very promising possibility is on track and is the kind of thing that could provide some badly needed enhancements to life within Oakland," Chancellor Mark Nordenberg told Senate Council March 17.

"It's absolutely clear that the future of the University depends upon the strength and attractiveness of the areas that surround the campus," Nordenberg said.

He cited Yale as one example of an urban university that has suffered from the deterioration of its neighboring communities. Temple is another such school, psychology professor James Holland said at the March 4 Faculty Assembly meeting.

During the latter meeting, members endorsed a resolution by the Senate's community relations committee supporting the BID.

"After informing itself carefully about the proposed Oakland business improvement district," the resolution read, "the community relations committee (CRC) is convinced that this initiative would have tangible, significant benefits for the University and its neighboring community in both the short term and for the foreseeable future. Therefore, the CRC urges the University administration to support the Oakland BID in all appropriate ways." Mark Ginsburg, the only Assembly member to vote against the resolution (another member, Jean Blachere, abstained), called the BID proposal an attempt to create "a secure homestead area" that would exclude other nearby communities and might lead toward the privatization of services that could otherwise be provided by the city.

John Wilds, director of Pitt's Governmental Relations office, argued that the Oakland BID "would not replace any services that the city already is providing. However, it is a plan to improve significantly on what the city provides. The city is saying, 'We don't have money in our budget to give you what you need.' So the BID says, 'We'll impose a tax on ourselves and we will, quote, purchase those supplemental services.'" In reply to Ginsburg's complaint that neighborhoods outside the BID would be excluded from supplemental services, Wilds said that most of those services — better litter control, for example — would be specific to a commercial area and wouldn't be needed in residential neighborhoods.

A BID steering committee, comprised of Oakland property owners and businesses and institutions, is working out logistics for the district. The group is co-chaired by Pitt Assistant Vice Chancellor for Governmental Relations Dennis McManus and Larry Duchevsky, owner of Leonard's Men's Shop and head of the Oakland Business and Civic Association.

The steering committee has discussed the following borders for an Oakland BID: Fifth Avenue (north), Bigelow Boulevard (east), Sennott Street (south) and Coltart Street (west). If the steering committee agrees to form a BID, it will approach City Council with a draft ordinance and perhaps a poll of property owners and businesses as a measure of support. City Council would form the BID authority through a resolution or ordinance.

"Once formed, the authority must submit a planning or feasibility study and notify all of the property owners and lessees in the district of the budget and program plan for the district, including how much each property will be assessed. The authority must then hold a public meeting to discuss the district plan," according to a BID information sheet that Wilds distributed to Faculty Assembly.

"The authority cannot take any further action if more than one-third of the property owners and lessees, or property owners owning more than one-third of the total assessed value of the district object in writing within 45 days," the document continues. "If the plan is not voted down by the property owners and lessees, it then goes to City Council for approval. Thereafter, budgets must be approved by City Council.

"Hence, the authority which administers the BID — while working within certain limits imposed by the city and governed by the businesses and institutions — can function essentially as a private enterprise… BIDs come with a certain level of insurance. The resolution or ordinance which forms the BID usually contains a sunset clause. That is, the BID will be terminated automatically after a certain number of years (usually three or four) if it is not re-approved."

— Bruce Steele


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