Asheville Downtown Association pushes hard for Business Improvement District

ASHEVILLE - While noting a perceived shift toward a "cleaner and safer" downtown, the focus of the March 19 annual State of Downtown presentation was a push for a Business Improvement District, which would leverage a special tax on property owners within a specific area to fund additional services or improvement projects.

It's been a burgeoning movement from the Asheville Downtown Association and Chamber of Commerce, and revives an effort from a decade earlier, which ultimately faltered. Calls were amplified, and a feasibility study funded, in spring 2023, a time that also marked escalating outcry from downtown business owners around what many felt was increasing crime in downtown.

Asheville Police Department's most recent crime data, presented in January, said citywide crime fell from 2022 to 2023, with violent crime seeing an 18% decrease and property crime down 13%.

Reporting from the Citizen Times found that while the majority of public attention and resources have focused downtown, the greatest dangers lie in neighborhoods that are poor, isolated and racially segregated from the rest of the city, and whose populations historically have high numbers of children.

Pushing for a BID

Hayden Plemmons, the Asheville Downtown Association's new executive director, addressed the crowd assembled at Eulogy, Burial Beer's neon-lit music venue and bar in the South Slope.

"We believe it will take a multifaceted approach to address the perception of safety in downtown," Plemmons said.

She referenced the launch of the city's 60-day Downtown Safety Initiative in May 2023, made permanent after its spring pilot, a new 24/7 security contract for downtown's parking garages, and APD's joint weekend night patrols with the sheriff's office, calling them a "fantastic start."

"But some of those efforts are temporary. As a result, the Asheville Downtown Association believes that a permanent solution to increase services in downtown is the implementation of a Business Improvement District. Not only would a Business Improvement District improve public safety, it would also increase services related to cleanliness and public health," Plemmons said.

More than 200 people packed the room and heard presentations from Plemmons, Mayor Esther Manheimer, Buncombe County Commission Chair Brownie Newman and Gerren Price, president and CEO of Washington D.C.'s Business Improvement District.

"There is so much possibility when you have a Business Improvement District that is invested in your community, and I think you really ought to give it some strong consideration," Price said. "You all have all the ingredients for your downtown to soar, and I think the BID would be a great addition here in downtown Asheville."

There are more than 1,000 BIDs in the United States and approximately 50 in North Carolina, according to the feasibility study, prepared by Denver-based Progressive Urban Management Associates.

Citing surveys from 410 respondents, the bulk of which were downtown employees, visitors, business owners or residents, Plemmons said 90% felt "neutral to very safe" in daytime downtown, up 12% from the previous year. At night, 55% fell in that range, up 21% from 2023.

She attributed the shift to work of the ADA, Chamber and Explore Asheville, who "worked to convene leaders across downtown to highlight the urgent need for action." Through that collaboration, along with the city of Asheville, the 60-day initiative was launched, Plemmons said.

What could a BID look like in Asheville?

Plemmons imagined a BID that would include services like litter and graffiti removal, street sweeping, year round pressure washing and more, "all of this on top of services provided by the city, not in place of."

The city has nine fulltime employees dedicated to downtown cleanliness, Manheimer noted in her presentation.

Plemmons also envisioned a "hospitality team," that would greet people and escort them to their cars, connect downtown's unhoused population with services and, according to Downtown Asheville BID website, be responsible for "management of nuisance and vagrancy issues."

They are not considering a private security team at this time, she said.

Property taxpayers within the BID would pay $0.0919 per $100 of assessed value, according to the website.

A presentation will go to Asheville City Council March 26, Plemmons said. The Chamber and ADA are advocating to establish a downtown BID by June 30, with assessments levied for the 2025 tax year. It requires City Council approval.

Mayor weighs in on BID

Manheimer and Newman's presentations highlighted ongoing work from the city and county around public safety, parking, homelessness, housing and cleanliness — all among top issues named by downtown stakeholders — as well as various other projects, like the county's affordable housing proposals for Coxe Avenue and the city's work around Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, McCormick Field and outdoor dining programs.

Manheimer said she was excited about the opportunity, "again," to try for a BID in Asheville.

"There was a valiant effort by some who were very much behind it," Manheimer said of the effort several years ago. "But now, this time, I feel like with the chamber supporting it, and trying to get everyone's opinion about it, working with the city, carefully, as we move through this process, we've hopefully set ourselves up for success."

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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email [email protected] or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Downtown Association urges City Council to consider BID