The Flagstaff City Council has voted unanimously to move forward with forming a downtown business district. Several steps are still needed to formalize a district, which could bring benefits to business owners by improved management of downtown. Councilman Jeff Oravits says the district would shift more responsibility to the people and businesses in the district. “I’m confident the business district will help ensure that downtown and Flagstaff continues to flourish going forward,” he said in a release. City staff is gathering additional data on the district formation process.
(the following story was written by Flagstaff Business News’ Stacey Wittig and appears in the February issue.)
The management of historic downtown Flagstaff has morphed during the past 20 years and now downtown constituents are readying for the next big change. Stakeholders circulated petitions to form a business improvement district (BID) last year resulting in more than 60 percent of property owners – representing more than 67 percent of the property value within the district – supporting the BID (pronounced bid). According to the Downtown Flagstaff BID website, the tallies of signed petitions delivered to the City Clerk did not include City or County properties.
Property owners, as well as tenants in the district, pointed to several reasons for the need for the self-taxing district. “Currently there are several unmanaged issues,” explained John VanLandingham, co-owner of four retail stores and the Bigfoot BBQ restaurant in the Old Town Shops. “They include parking, trash pickup and event management in downtown, an area that experiences a high intensity of usage.”
“In the 1990s, the Flagstaff Main Street Foundation was formed to breathe vitality into downtown – to clean up and rehab the historic area. We had funding and staff, but Main Street Foundation lost its funding in the early 2000s, and it went away,” VanLandingham said. Since then, the Flagstaff Downtown Business Alliance, a volunteer organization, was created to preserve and promote the downtown area. “The Downtown Business Alliance created ‘Movies on the Square’ and has tried to get things done with volunteers,” added Vanlandingham. “We really need a cohesive and comprehensive management program to move it to the next step.”
Blake Rolley of the Sweet Shoppe and Nut House is getting ready to open another store on Mill Avenue in Tempe, which is part of a business improvement district (BID). “It’s easy to see the difference between downtown Flagstaff [not currently a BID] and Mill Avenue which has that [BID] structure,” said Rolley.
“I’ve seen improvements at Mill Street over the past five years. I’ve been down there five or six times in the last several months, and it’s obvious to see the differences,” Rolley said. “The signage is much improved and the area is kept clean.”
“My biggest issue is that we maintain a very clean downtown, especially for the tourists. Flagstaff is a tourist destination that people come for the downtown [experience], or they come through downtown on their way to the Grand Canyon. When they come to downtown, it needs to be as clean and buttoned up as possible,” said Rolley, whose business is on the corner of Aspen and the alleyway to the Leroux Street parking lot.
“The first year [2011] and every summer since, there are beer bottles and vomit in the alley where I enter my business in the morning. And it never gets cleaned up. The first time it happened, I looked behind me, and there was a family of four. I thought ‘Wow, what a bad impression of downtown Flagstaff.’ I think we can do a better job.
“The second issue for me is employee parking. We’ve got to solve employee parking, and that will further help visitors enjoy downtown because they’ll be able to find a parking place. “
Mark Lamberson, president at Mountain Sports Downtown, appreciates the benefits of the self-taxing district “…even if the rent goes up.” As a tenant in the historic Verkamp Building, Mountain Sports is at the epicenter of downtown Flagstaff on the intersection of San Francisco Street and Aspen Avenue.
“The [BID] single-pointed management will allow the disparate functions of sidewalk maintenance, trash removal and event management to come under one entity. There are so many entities trying to make this happen right now. The five or six different City of Flagstaff departments oversee downtown including the Recreation Services department, which does events, Environmental Waste does bulk pickup, the trash cans on the corners are handled by another city department, the banners on light posts are another department,” Lamberson explained. “Everyone is trying the best they can, but it would be done more efficiently with a coordinated effort.”
Similar districts exist all over the country, with Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colo., and Downtown Tempe Community being two of note. BID proponents have personally reached out to some of the folks at other BIDs in Durango, Tucson, Tempe and Boulder, according to VanLandingham. “We learned that the issues we have in downtown are not unique to Flagstaff, but are unique to historical centers that make up the fabric of communities all over. Our challenges are malls, online shopping and trade areas outside of the region. We have to provide customers with multiple reasons to do business in our stores and districts. We have to be resourceful and mindful that we are competing in a larger arena and find ways to be better,” said VanLandingham. “Our City Manager Kevin [Burke] and the City have been very helpful and supportive.”
Downtown stakeholders have engaged an independent district formation consultant to serve as an on-call resource. Nancy Hormann, director of Downtown Tempe Community, has more than 30 years of urban development and redevelopment experience and understanding of Arizona law. Each improvement district throughout the country has different requirements bound by individual state laws.
“The next step after approval is to create an entity with a board of directors and executive director. We’ll do a search to find that person,” said VanLandingham.
“It all adds up to a better customer experience for the locals who work downtown, locals who come here and the visitors who find us. That will help bring more customers to downtown, and that will help my business,” concluded Lamberson. FBN
Downtown Flagstaff BID: www.downtownflagstaff.org
Mountain Sports Downtown: 24 N San Francisco St, Flagstaff, 928-226-2885
www.mountainsportsflagstaff.com
Old Town Shops: 120 N Leroux St, Flagstaff, 928-774-3100
http://oldtownshops.net
Sweet Shoppe & Nut House: 15 E Aspen Ave, Flagstaff, 928-255-4919
http://sweetshoppecandy.com
By Stacey Wittig