Main Street Property Owners Vehemently Oppose Business Improvement District

After a Borough Council meeting last month during which many Main Street business owners and Chatham Chamber of Commerce officials spoke in favor of a Business Improvement District for Main Street, one would have thought that the creation of a BID in Chatham would have been a foregone conclusion.

At a meeting Monday, the council was scheduled to vote on the BID's adoption. But that possibility was quickly rendered impossible.

A large number of Main Street property and business owners came forward at the meeting to speak out against the BID. Many said they had been unaware of the BID creation process until about one month ago, and said they did not think it was the best way to help improve business at downtown establishments.

"I'm not opposed to promoting my town," said F. Gerald New owner Paul Norbury. "I'm opposed to doing it with my tax dollars."

The planned BID could potentially require property owners within a district that encompasses most of the Main Street area—from the Passaic River to Lafayette Avenue—to contribute 2.3 percent of their property taxes to support the effort.

In turn, the BID would promote downtown business. Its budget could include a concierge service at the Chatham Train Station that would provide people with information on Main Street businesses, and it would be almost run entirely by business owners. One borough government official would have a seat on its 12-member board.

But about 10 downtown business owners came forward to denounce the plan at Monday's meeting, and many more were in the audience to show their support for those business owners. Norbury said he had gone around town in recent days to ask owners whether they supported the BID, and said most were against it.

Some of those business owners said they would be unable to pay their rent if they were forced to contribute to the BID with a portion of their property taxes.

"If we can't pay our rent, we're going to look a lot like the towns around us," said Robin Longo, who owns Renaissance Salon. Summit, for example, currently has 19 vacancies downtown.

Stitching Bee owner Judith Labate noted that she, along with many business owners, simply did not know about the BID until a couple of weeks ago. Its creation was not communicated well to the business community, she said.

She also said people who come to her store also take their time to shop at surrounding businesses so they can get their shopping done all at once. Because of that, a property tax increase would have a significant effect on everyone.

"If I go," she said, "all that goes with me."

Others, such as Main Street property owner Bill Schmitz, said that "no one has any definitive information as to what this will consist of."

The cacophony of voices speaking out against the BID dominated Monday's meeting, and very few business owners came forward to support the project. Downtown property owner Paul Miller was the only person to come forward and unequivocally support the BID, saying that he believes "a BID can be a very good item for the town, provided there is good participation by the people in it."

Council members noted that the tone of Monday's meeting was in sharp contrast to that of last month's, when most business owners seemed to have positive opinions of a BID. Councilman James Lonergan said that those in charge of organizing the BID may have taken a different approach if they had known how many people are opposed to its creation.

The BID process has been going on for two years, and as Council President James Collander put it, "to get to this point after two years is distressing."

"I don't think the council is in the process of jamming a BID through under these circumstances," Collander said.

Mayor Nelson Vaughan and Councilman Bruce Harris, who both sit on the borough Planning Board, were recused from the discussion, which took place during the public comment section of the meeting. During the public comment section, residents also spoke of their opposition to a planned gambling addiction clinic at what is now the Parrot Mill Inn, and because that is a Planning Board issue, the two wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety during that discussion.

The only other person that spoke at the meeting who has been in favor of a BID—Driscoll Properties owner Richard Driscoll—roundly criticized the council for its actions during the process. Driscoll, who was on the committee that worked on putting together the BID, said that $20,000 spent on the matter was spent by the council, not by the BID committee. He said he resented the notion that the committee didn't do its homework regarding the matter.

"If you've been waiting for something to happen, you've got to get involved," Driscoll said. "Don't put this on the committee."

Driscoll and Collander had a heated war of words soon afterward as Collander said he had not been criticizing the committee, and Driscoll replied: "You did, Jim." Collander then asked Driscoll to finish making his comments, which soon afterward prompted Driscoll to turn toward the crowd.

"He's going to be up for re-election soon," he angrily said.

Borough Attorney Joseph Bell then intervented, telling Driscoll he was "out of line," and Driscoll took his seat.

Most business owners, however, did not criticize the council—they only criticized the BID. Because of the criticism, council members said they would wait until their March 22 meeting to revisit the matter. They had decided before the meeting began they would not vote on the matter.

"[We're] looking for some sort of unity on this," Lonergan said.