Downtown Parking and Business Improvement: PBIA in Progress

                Bellingham’s downtown is noted as the heart of the city. To keep this ‘heart’ figuratively pumping, the city relies on clean-up, landscaping, security, a voice for property owners and a smooth parking and traffic system, among other things. With the introduction of downtown Bellingham’s Parking and Business Improvement Area (PBIA), there could now be enough funding to make these necessities possible.

                According to the downtown Bellingham website, a PBIA is a local self-help funding mechanism that allows businesses and property owners to establish a special assessment district to raise money in order to promote economic development and facilitate merchant and business cooperation, meaning higher property values and more business traffic for downtown Bellingham. According to The International Downtown Association, there are over 1,200 business improvement districts throughout the country.

                In order to fund the PBIA, downtown property owners would be assessed a yearly fee of two-tenths of a percent, 0.2%, of the value of their improved property. Improvements include beautification via litter pickup, graffiti removal, and landscaping. In addition, ambassadors would be made available to address concerns, and private security stationed to handle disturbances such as unnecessary loitering or overnight property security.

                “The whole idea of this happening in Bellingham is pretty neat,” downtown resident Curtis Cordova said. “It really makes you feel like people care about our community and want to do everything they can to make it better.”

                Cordova, originally from Spokane, noted that his parents are property owners in the Spokane area, which has seen dramatic and successful changes thanks to a PBIA in place there. At first, his parents were skeptical of yet another fee to pay, but it was easily worth the hassle to see the changes and added peace of mind thanks to security improvements, he said.

                One of the top downtown property owners, Jim Bjerke, who owns Pacific Continental Realty on Magnolia, is fully behind the effort. He estimated that his contribution to the project would be close to $10,000.

                However, not everyone is in the same boat as Bjerke. West-Lind Construction owner Rick Westerop already pays numerous fees as a developer, and is in charge of taking care of his properties, so he wouldn’t see much benefit from the improvement area, he said.

                To initiate the PBIA, property owners who would pay 60 percent of the total improvements from the project must sign petitions supporting it. Following that, the petitions would be sent to City Council to create an ordinance to bring about the creation of the improvement area.

                Frequent downtown shopper Alex Bommarito said he would love to see the PBIA come to fruition. “I’m always downtown, it’s a great place. It’d be awesome to make a great place even better, because I do notice things like occasional trash and the leaves that cover the sidewalks.”

                Parking, as a part of the name of the proposal, is a rather large issue for downtown, and has been for decades. However, due to disagreement on a solid solution, parking improvements were left out of downtown Bellingham’s PBIA proposal altogether. According to the downtown Bellingham website, the parking issue is not being overlooked, but the focus of the project has been beautification and security.

                The PBIA would have formal staffing in the way of a director, landscape and maintenance supervisor and staff and an elected advisory board made up of property owners that would choose and vote on various improvement projects, according to the downtown Bellingham website.

“I really like the idea that the board would be made up of actual business owners,” Western student and frequent patron at The Black Drop Coffee House Karin Cross said. “I wouldn’t want someone making decisions about my community who wouldn’t see the effects firsthand.”

                The Parking and Business Improvement Area would encompass a 50-block area, including all of the Central Business District, sprawling to Whatcom Creek, as well as all of Holly and Ellis streets. Meetings concerning the PBIA will continue throughout the year, with no set dates or times as of yet.