Anybody who has walked down First Street has definitely seen the decorative lights wrapped around the trees giving off an illuminating glow. What may not be common knowledge is that these lights were brought by the Downtown Benicia Alliance (DBA) in 2012 as part of the Business Improvement District (BID) program. The goal of the lights, according to DBA members, is to create a safer, more welcoming downtown.
The DBA is a volunteer collective of local business owners who advocate for improvements downtown. The lights themselves fit into the larger agenda of the BID, whose goals include “to enhance the downtown, to drive an economic engine, to make each business more profitable, to make people come (downtown), to make everybody’s business a little bit easier with advocacy,” according to DBA chair and Studio 41 owner Leah Shelhorn.
The renewal of the BID is up for a vote at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. While Shelhorn remains confident that the BID will be extended, she acknowledged that there are a couple of hurdles to cross and reiterated that not renewing the BID would have a negative impact on downtown.
Stan Houston— the owner of Mozart, Einstein & Me — wrote in a letter that some First Street merchants were not a fan of the lights, noting their claims of supposed high costs and an on-again, off-again nature. However, Houston felt that the overall effect of the lights has provided a number of positive benefits for First Street businesses, including increased retail operational hours, more foot traffic and a more inviting appearance.
“I remember the years we had no lighting and how dismal it was after dark on First Street,” Houston wrote. “It was safe and unwelcoming. We all closed at 6 (p.m.) in the winter months, and we were lucky to stay open till sunset in the summers. Today, with the streets lit well into the early morning hours, over 25 percent of my weekly sales happen after 6 p.m. and on weekends, it’s over 35 percent.”
Another obstacle has been scheduling an installation. Shelhorn said the trees along First Street were scheduled to be trimmed in April, but the repaving of the roads took precedence, so the trimming was pushed back to September with the lights slated to be installed in October. Additionally, January was an exceptionally rainy season and the contract with the maintenance company that installed the lights five years ago ended in June. However, Shelhorn was able to hire a new company to do the lights.
Shelhorn had also heard complaints that there was not enough electricity on First Street to power the lights, which she said was not true.
“We have a new plan with a new contractor, and every tree will be lit,” she said.
Shelhorn also said there will be changes to when the lights will go on and off.
“We used timers with the lights, which made some of the tree lights go on in the daytime (and) some of them go on at night,” she said. “This time, we’re going to use photocells so that they come on at dusk and they turn off in the morning.”
The renewal of the BID has received a lot of support from the community, including fellow business owners and the Benicia Police Officers’ Association.
“Since the introduction of the lights on First Street in 2012, we have watched the downtown area become revitalized with night-time pedestrian traffic and business,” BPOA President Edward Criado wrote in a letter to Shelhorn. “We believe the lights have increased the presence of community downtown and in turn, this has had an impact on reducing the potential for crime.”
Additionally, Shelhorn said the lights have helped beautify the main street and have contributed to a 23 percent increase in sales tax to the downtown.
“We have made First Street a little wonderland,” she said.
Taking the lights away would erase that feeling, Shelhorn said.
“If the lights go out, this town’s gonna go backwards,” she said. “It’s gonna be dark, no one’s gonna come down, no one’s gonna feel safe and we’re gonna go back to the way it was six years ago before we started this. It was a dreary downtown. For us to increase the downtown with a 23 percent increase in sales tax says a lot for what we’re all doing down here. If everybody would work together, it would make a difference.”
The BID renewal will be voted on at the Tuesday, Sept. 5 council meeting, which will be held 7 p.m. in City Hall’s Council Chambers at 250 E L St.
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Based on what has appeared on social media lately, there is more than one opinion on the issue of renewing the BID. It is too bad you chose not to contact anyone who has an opposing view. Is balanced reporting not important to you?
Did just that in another story:
http://beniciaheraldonline.com/business-owners-circulate-petition-to-protest-bid-renewal/
Check Wikipedia’s BID (Business Improvement District) page. It’s a real eye opener! For one, there are BID’s all around the world and they are not without considerable criticism and protests, most of which stem from being considered undemocratic and placing power into the hands of the few. The funds to pay BIDs traditionally come from the property owners, not their tenants, based on calculated percentages of frontage to the district and other factors, as these assessments are shown to benefit landlords by increased rents. Also, BIDs are formed when city municipalities cannot or will not provide much needed services to these districts. The DBA claims to be the voice of an “alliance ” of businesses, which has been disputed directly to them over the past five years. There have been several business and professional code violations by the DBA’s leaders which are not being spoken about. If the city claims revenues have increased 23% since the lights have gone up then it is the city who should be making a case for not taking on this expense, not the merchants who were ostensibly forced to organize into a nonprofit and pay for the past five years. I would venture to say that the lights are not the cause of the increased revenues anyhow, as three new and improved bars and restaurants opened during the time, and they are the largest sources of sales tax. Benicia needs to take back its refusal to provide the lights and other much needed support to its downtown merchants. This is just the start!