The leaders of the Downtown Business Improvement Association (BIA) need to collect BIA support from at least 50 per cent of the landowners in the downtown area by April 5 or face the association's dissolution.
"We're just going to have to put our noses to the grindstone and get as much community buy-in as we can," said BIA president Eric Armour.
"We'll adapt to the situation and make it happen because the BIA is a really good thing it's good for downtown and we just have to rise to the challenge."
BIAs are established to market, promote and revitalize a specified commercial area in this case, Squamish's downtown core.
The reason for the rush is that the BIA bylaw, which imposes a levy on business owners and has been in effect for five years, expires March 31 and a new bylaw is required if Squamish council wants to grant the association a further term. The new bylaw must be adopted before the end of April to be included in this year's tax roll.
In May 2006, the District of Squamish organized a counterpetition, notifying those affected of the potential levy. Affected parties then had the opportunity to register their opposition.
There were 186 eligible parcels of land and 50 per cent of landowners said no. However, those owners only represented 38 per cent of the land, so council decided to approve the association's inaugural term.
With the deadline looming, the onus this time has been transferred to the BIA and instead of a counterpetition, the association will have a petition in which the board is required to generate at least 50 per cent support.
This was not what BIA executive director Christine Bennett and the five-person board had in mind.
"We've been instructed to ask the district to conduct a counterpetition, as 95 per cent of BIAs in the province are council initiatives," said Bennett.
"I would end up doing all the work and I don't have the understanding."
Coun. Patricia Heintzman agreed with the idea of a district-led counterpetition, saying she liked the continuity and didn't want to overstrain the BIA.
"I do worry about overburdening the BIA," she said. "Certainly I feel that what they do in the community with a small board is important."
Robin Arthurs, the district's corporate services general manager, who presented the BIA report, was under the impression this was an applicant-led petition. She made it clear staff did not have the time to conduct the counterpetition over the next two months because of election-related commitments.
"Are you saying asking the district to hold a counterpetition could jeopardize it completely?" Heintzman asked Arthurs.
"Yes" was Arthurs' response.
Coun. Paul Lalli said a reason for the district's involvement the last time around was the complexity of the issue, but now that residents are familiar with the BIA, it seems appropriate to pass on the reins.
"Five years ago it was very controversial and unknown, but now the BIA has established itself within the community," said Lalli.
"At the end of the day, this is an added tax and an applicant-led petition makes sense."
He made a motion to support a BIA-led petition.
Coun. Corinne Lonsdale seconded the motion and said she thought a BIA-led petition was important considering the controversy almost five years ago.
"It was too close for comfort the last time around despite the fact that it was a counterpetition," she said. "This is relevant because normally people don't express interest in counterpetitions, but last time people did."
Coun. Rob Kirkham agreed.
"Generally when we vote for something we vote for what we want, not what we don't want," he said.
Arthurs explained that every landowner in the BIA area that is considered a commercial (Class 6) property has to pay an additional tax.
Coun. Doug Race said any decision that affects taxes should be looked at carefully.
"This [initiative] avoided being failed at the counterpetition stage last time by just the narrowest of margins," he said. "So I would prefer for people to tell us what they want."
The motion was carried, with only Heintzman opposed. Coun. Bryan Raiser was not present for the meeting and Mayor Greg Gardner did not participate in the discussion or vote because of a conflict of interest.
BIA board members are feeling the pressure and will have a board meeting on Tuesday (Feb. 15) to discuss a game plan.
"I think the deadlines are tight for something that's so important with a lot of information to be shared with the public," said BIA director Stan Matwychuk. "You're putting a lot of weight on an already heavy workload.
"We're really going to have to muster up and get a good campaign going."
He was slightly disappointed with council's decision to make it an applicant-led petition.
"Not that it's bad; it's just it was a lot more work," he said. "If it was a counterpetition it would have been the kind of thing that if there was no answer, it would have been moving ahead, but now we have to prove our worth to move ahead."
BIA president Armour was also concerned.
"I'm a little bit tentative and hesitant about it after talking to Business Improvement B.C., because according to them, a lot of the initiatives that are BIA-led have a lesser likelihood of succeeding versus ones that are council-led," said Armour.
However, he acknowledged that BIA leaders could have been more proactive earlier on.
"We do have to shoulder some of the responsibility for kind of leaving it to the 12th hour," he said. "It's our first time through a renewal, so we were under the assumption it would kind of go the same way as it did originally."
Armour said he thinks the BIA's image within the downtown is positive, but that doesn't always translate to landowners who might live out of town.
"I think the public sentiment towards the BIA is very, very good," he said. "It's not necessarily the public support that's the difficult situation. It's liaising with the owners of these buildings who aren't necessarily part of the community."
He said a lot of landowners are out of town and it may be difficult to contact them.
The BIA is currently circulating a survey to help put together a business plan and priorities for a public forum in the coming weeks.
Over the past five years, the BIA's completed projects include wall murals, bike racks, social media marketing, the organization of Canada Day festivities, new patio bylaws, improved snow clearing, bear-proofing of garbage receptacles and shopping promotions. It has also secured streetscape beautification grants and instigated general aesthetic improvements.
To show support for the BIA, contact Bennett at [email protected].
