Report to/Rapport au:

 

Finance and Economic Development Committee

Comité des finances et du développement économique

     

and Council / et au Conseil

 

28 February 2012 / le 28 février 2012

 

Submitted by/Soumis par: Kent Kirkpatrick/Directeur municipal,

City Manager’s Office/Bureau du directeur municipal 

 

Contact Person/Personne-ressource : Steve Box, Director, Corporate Programs, Outreach and Business Services / directeur, Programmes municipaux, Rayonnement et Services opérationnels, City Manager’s Office / Bureau du directeur municipal

613‑580‑2424, ext/poste 24200

 

Rideau - Vanier (12)

Ref N°: ACS2012-CMR-OCM-0004

 

 

SUBJECT:

QUARTIER VANIER MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION (BIA) BOUNDARY EXPANSION

 

 

OBJET:

MARCHANDS DU VANIER MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION AGRANDISSEMENT DES LIMITS DE LA ZAC

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

 

That the Finance and Economic Development Committee recommend Council:

 

1.      Designate the area described by Document 1 as an expanded Business Improvement Area (BIA), under Sections 204 and 209 of the Municipal Act, 2001;

 

2.      Authorize and direct the City Clerk to send out a notice of Council's intention to pass a by-law to alter the existing BIA boundaries, as defined in Document 1, in accordance with Section 210 of the Municipal Act, 2001;

 

3.      Authorize and direct the City Solicitor to prepare a by-law to designate the area as an expanded Business Improvement Area, as described in Document 1, in accordance with Sections 204 and 209 of the Municipal Act, 2001; and

 

4.      Enact the aforementioned by-law in accordance with section 204 and 209 of the Municipal Act, 2001, subject to the  City Clerk receiving favourable results on the notices referred to in Recommendation 2, advising of the intention to pass a by-law expanding the boundary.

 


 

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité des finances et du développement économique recommande ce qui suit au Conseil :

 

1.      Désigner le secteur décrit dans le document 1 comme étant une zone d'amélioration commerciale (ZAC) élargie, en vertu des articles 204 et 209 de la Loi de 2001sur les municipalités;

 

2.      Permettre et prescrire au greffier municipal de publier un avis de l'intention du Conseil d'adopter un règlement municipal modifiant les limites actuelles de la ZAC, définie dans le document 1, conformément à l'article 210 de la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités;

 

3.      Permettre et prescrire au chef du contentieux de rédiger le texte d’un règlement municipal désignant le secteur décrit dans le document 1 ci-joint comme zone d’amélioration commerciale agrandie en vertu des articles 204 et 209 de la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités;

 

4.      Adopter le règlement municipal susmentionné en vertu des articles 204 et 209 de la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités, à condition que le greffier de la Ville reçoive des réponses généralement favorables à l’avis, mentionné dans la recommandation 2, de l’intention d’adopter un règlement municipal agrandissant la ZAC.

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

Created in 1985, the Vanier Business Improvement Area (BIA) included the three primary commercial streets in the former City of Vanier: McArthur Road, Montreal Road and the south side of Beechwood Avenue. While these streets were at the commercial heart of the Vanier community, they were not the only businesses operating in the area.  Despite the prevalence of other commmerical activities in the vicinity, it was not possible to extend the boundary of the BIA beyond the former jurisdiction of the City of Vanier even though the businesses were essentially operating next door. 

 

As as a result, the following important business areas were excluded from participation in the BIA:

 

 

This jurisdictional limitation was most pronounced along Beechwood Avenue. Over the years, the BIA had installed lighting on the south side of Beechwood as part of street beautification initiatives. However, the BIA could not replicate the look on the north side of Beechwood because it was outside their jurisdiction and, where developers installed new fixtures as part of private redevelopment projects, the lighting was of a different make and colour.

 

Similarly, the BIA recently initiated a street banner program that included Beechwood Avenue, but because one side of the street was outside the boundary, the BIA could only place banners on one side of the street. Clearly, there is a need for change.

 

Ottawa’s amalgamation in 2001 opened the door to expanding the limits of the BIA to include those businesses that had previously been excluded due to the limits of Vanier’s municipal jurisdiction. While expansion of the BIA has been considered for some time, it had been deferred in order to address pressing priorities, including  safety and maintenance issues in the area.

 

In 2010, Shore-Tanner and Associates completed a trade area and market analysis on behalf of the BIA that outlined the nature and extent of the business activity in the area and highlighted  the relationships between the businesses located in Vanier. In February 2011, as part of a visioning exercise, the BIA’s Board of Management adopted a direction to move forward with the expansion. Since that time, the BIA has carried out a number of outreach activities (described later in this report under Consultation) among both members and potential members to gauge the level of receptiveness to the idea of expansion. The results of these activities have been largely supportive.

 

Based on the positive support, the Board of Management passed a motion at its meeting of October 4th to initiate a formal request to the City of Ottawa to initiate a boundary expansion for the BIA (the proposed boundaries are shown in Document 1). A copy of the BIA's formal request to the City is attached as Document 2.

 

 

DISCUSSION

 

Section 204. (1) of the Municipal Act states, in part, that a municipality may designate an area as an improvement area. The section goes on to describe that the purposes of a BIA are to oversee the improvement, beautification and maintenance of municipally-owned land, buildings and structures in the area beyond that provided at the expense of the municipality generally; and to promote the area as a business or shopping area. It is clear that these purposes are meant to be applied to a unique and discrete trade area where businesses share both a common geography and character. A business improvement area provides an efficient vehicle and a reliable source of independent funding for just these purposes.

 

Previous jurisdictional limitations related to the municipal boundaries of the City of Ottawa and the former City of Vanier blocked the inclusion of all businesses within the logical trade area. However, the amalgamation of the City of Ottawa in 2001 removed this impediment. Since Ottawa and Vanier are now both included in the new City of Ottawa, the development of a BIA with boundaries that reflect the unique Vanier trade area is possible, and the Board of Management of the BIA wishes to work towards including these previously excluded businesses.

 

 


 

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

 

N/A

 

 

CONSULTATION

 

On June 21, 2011, approximately twenty people representing various businesses on Beechwood Avenue, as well as members from the BIA's Board of Management, attended an information meeting to discuss the proposed expansion of the BIA. Additionally, Councillors Mathieu Fleury and Peter Clark were present to represent their respective wards. The BIA sent invitations to the meeting to all businesses in the area and supplemented this by making some door-to-door visits. Discussion during the meeting was lively and positive and the general outcome of the meeting was a clear indication of support for moving the expansion process forward.

 

Following the public meeting, the BIA carried out a thorough survey to gauge the level of support among the businesses in the proposed expansion area, as well as the level of support from businesses in the existing BIA.  The BIA also attempted to contact the businesses that were not in attendance at the meeting of June 21 to make them aware of the BIA’s expansion plans. As shown in Figure 1, the survey results indicate substantial support in favour of the proposed boundary expansion:  80% reported that they were in favour or neutral about the expansion, 18% were unreachable or undecided, and only 2% indicated that they were against the expansion.

 

Chart_1

Figure 1 - Results of a survey to gauge support for an expansion of the Quartier Vanier BIA boundaries

 

The detailed survey also revealed that support was strong among both businesses in the existing BIA area as well as businesses in the proposed expansion area.

 

Survey of Expansion Area:

Ø  McArthur Avenue

o   24 businesses surveyed – 58% were in favour of the expansion; 42% are neutral or  did not respond.

Ø  Montreal Road

o   3 businesses surveyed – one business was in favour of the expansion; two businesses did not respond.

Ø  Beechwood Avenue

o   25 businesses surveyed – 76% were in favour of the expansion; 24% are neutral or did not respond.

 

Survey of Existing BIA Area:

Ø  McArthur Avenue

o   29 businesses surveyed – 83% were in favour of the expansion.

Ø  Montreal Road

o   18 businesses surveyed – 83% were in favour of the expansion.

Ø  Beechwood Avenue

o   21 businesses surveyed – 95% were in favour of the expansion.

 

 

COMMENTS BY THE WARD COUNCILLOR(S)

 

 Councillor Fleury: “I am aware of and fully support this boundary expansion for the Quartier Vanier Merchants Association. I look forward to seeing the excellent results that the BIA has consistently achieved now extended to the complete central Vanier Business Area.”

 

 

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

There are no legal impediments to approving the recommendations in this report.

 

 

RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

 

N/A

 

 

CITY STRATEGIC PLAN

 

This initiative is directly aligned with the City’s Economic Prosperity priority (EP3 – Support growth of local economy) and will enable the achievement of short- and long-term success of enterprises in our City.

 

 

TECHNICAL IMPLICATIONS

 

N/A

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The City’s cost for the notice of Council’s intention mail out is approximately $400, and will be funded from within Economic Development’s operating budget.  

 

Any additional budget requirements of the BIA would be funded through the BIA levy, and would have no direct financial implications to the City. Should the expansion be passed, any associated budget and levy changes will be brought forward in 2013.

 

 

ACCESSIBILITY IMPLICATIONS

 

N/A

 

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

 

Document 1: Proposed Boundary Expansion map

Document 2: Formal Request to amend the Business Improvement Area boundaries

 

 

DISPOSITION

 

City Clerk will forward notices to affected property owners as provided for in the Municipal Act, 2001. 

 

Legal Services Branch will prepare a by-law to designate the area as an expanded Business Improvement Area, as described in Document 1, in accordance with Sections 204 and 209 of the Municipal Act, 2001, and place the aforementioned by-law on the Orders of the Day, subject to the responses to the aforementioned notices.  Economic Development staff will report back on the results of the circulation, and whether the expansion was successful.


Document 1                                                  

Quartier Vanier Merchants Association (BIA)          

Proposed Boundary Expansion map              

 

Vanier BIA Expansion Map with Roll Numbers.jpg 



December 6, 2011

 

 

Rick O’Connor

City Clerk & Solicitor Department

City Manager’s Office

110 Laurier Avenue West

Ottawa, Ontario

K1P 1J1

 

Dear Mr. O’Connor,

 

Please accept this letter as a formal request to amend the boundaries of the Business Improvement Area (BIA) for the Quartier Vanier – business area #041.

 

This request for a BIA boundary amendment is based on the need to be inclusive of all businesses, and potential businesses in our community. When the Vanier BIA was first formed in 1985, the north side of Beechwood Avenue from the Crichton Street to Acacia Avenue along with the sections of Montréal Road, east of Ducharme and McArthur Ave., east of Belisle to St. Laurent Boulevard were not made part of the business improvement area, as they were not within the boundary of the former City of Vanier.

 

Since 2001, the Vanier BIA has been working to include these businesses as they are part of the natural trade area with the existing BIA. This creates an unfair situation for members and excluded businesses alike, most notably on Beechwood Avenue, as the BIA programming provides some benefits paid for by the existing members but supporting the broader area which currently do not contribute to the levy.  The proposed expansion of the boundary for the Quartier Vanier Merchants Association (BIA) would encompass all properties within this area.

 

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would request that the City of Ottawa initiate the process to amend the BIA boundary amendment and keep the Quartier Vanier BIA apprised at key points, through correspondence with the Executive Director, as the application follows its course to completion.  It is our desire to have the boundary amendment process completed and a new by-law adopted by City Council by spring 2012.

Thank you and best regards,

sig_John_Therien

 

John Therien

Chair, Quartier Vanier Merchants Association (BIA)

Cc.          Suzanne Valiquet               

                Chris Cope

Attachment:         (Background Report)

                                (Board Motion)