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For nearly three decades, the nonprofit Olmsted
Parks Conservancy has raised tens of millions of dollars and worked hundreds of
thousands of hours to restore and enhance Louisville’s 18 Olmsted-designed parks
(and six parkways), including Cherokee, Seneca, Tyler and Willow in District 8. But imagine for a moment that it hadn’t done
those things – and there was no Olmsted Parks Conservancy.
The parks would still be here. City government would still maintain them. However, the parks we know and love today would
be a shell of themselves. Even assuming Cherokee
and Seneca wouldn’t be crowded and choked by invasive bush honeysuckle (although
I don’t know where the Parks Department would have found the $4 million and
seven years OPC spent beating it back), certainly there would be no Bonnycastle Hill Restoration, Tyler Park Master Plan implementation or tree canopy replenishment happening now. Our parks would still be good but they
wouldn’t be great.
I mention this because it looks to me like the
same tornadoes that tore through the parks in 1974 (sparking the creation of
the Conservancy) have torn through the Highlands commercial areas over the last
several years, leaving them dingy and littered.
That’s why I’ve proposed the creation of the Highlands Management District, a separate, non-governmental organization designed to supplement city services
and improve the shopping and dining corridor from Broadway to the Douglass
Loop. Think of it as the Bardstown Road Conservancy.
The organization would employ 5-6 full-time
employees (including a “working” executive director), operating seven days a
week and fully-equipped to literally vacuum and power wash the streets and
sidewalks, report service requests to police, social service providers and
parking enforcement agencies, landscape, beautify and otherwise maintain public
amenities and much more! You may be
familiar with our model, the Louisville Downtown Management District, which picked up 31,600 pounds of trash
just last quarter!
“Alright!
Sounds good! So, what are you
waiting for!?”
Well, there is no such thing as a free
lunch. The Highlands Management District
would be funded in primary part by levying a “special assessment” – like a tax
– of 17.45 cents per $100 assessed value on 392 parcels of property located within its boundaries,
on the main commercial strip.
Two hundred eighty-four (284) unique, real
property owners own the 392 subject parcels, and each owner gets a vote whether
to establish the business improvement district (the “BID”). The yes vote of 33% of owners (95)
representing 51% of the property value within the boundaries ($95,489,424) is
required. I’m in the process of meeting
with owners and collecting their signatures now. (The “vote” is actually a state law petition
process.) Obviously, I support the
initiative and hope owners vote yes but I recognize this is a significant
investment decision for some of them.
As of this writing, I have 30 yes-signatures in
hand or solidly committed and, also, 30 no votes tallied. I’ve reached out to 59 other owners whose
decisions are pending; and there are 165 owners I have yet to contact. It’s a slow go, and rightfully so. Nevertheless, I’ve self-imposed a December 31,
2018 deadline to collect the signatures I need or else determine the desire isn’t
there.
If
you own a parcel within the boundaries to be assessed according to this map and you haven’t heard directly from me yet, then I encourage you to, and would
appreciate, if you contact my office (please see below).
If this initiative passes, the special
assessment will first appear on the 284 owners’ November 2019 tax bills and generate
$333,258.09 to fund the program in 2020.
Additionally, District 8 would annually provide $35,000 in Neighborhood
Development Funding so that all residents (indirectly, at least) have skin in
the game. The Highlands Management
District would be governed by a diverse board of directors made up entirely of
contributing property owners (and a few non-voting ex-officio members); and the enabling legislation would sunset the
BID after three (3) years unless extended by the board and Metro Council to satisfy
stakeholders that the program is working and the investment is worth it.
In fact, I’m asking you to help me chronicle the
current conditions along Baxter Avenue, Bardstown Road and the Douglass Loop
now – the “Before” – so that we can look back and compare them later, “After” the
Highlands Management District is in place.
In other words: email me “dirty” pictures.
In all seriousness, though, if you want our
commercial corridor to be not just good but great – a nicer, more attractive, healthier
mix of neighborhood-serving retail options – then commit, too, to patronizing
Highlands businesses. Go out to dinner,
pick up necessities and treat
yourself closer to home
more often. Tell proprietors that you’ll
gladly pay the marginal difference sure to be passed down from landlords to tenants
to you, the customer, in order to enjoy a higher quality environment and
experience when you go out. Finally, if
you have the means to help in other ways, ask me how you can.
* * *
As a reminder, I’ll be out of the office for
several days soon, including for the August 1 edition of eNews. District 8 interns Ray Myers and Sarah
Pennington will handle production as the capstone of a summer spent in excellent
service to our community. Jasmine
Weatherby will manage our regular business affairs in my absence and you won’t
even notice that I’m gone.
For breaking news and information, please follow
me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you have a
question or comment, please call me at: (502) 574-1108 or
email: brandon.coan@louisvilleky.gov (and copy jasmine.weatherby@louisvilleky.gov).
If you have a service request, please call MetroCall at: 311 or
visit MetroCall 311 online. Visit the District 8 Strategic Plan
page here.
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