Lexington, KY - The Downtown Lexington Corporation is hoping to begin next week collecting signatures of downtown property owners endorsing establishment of a Downtown Lexington Management District.
Initially presented to stakeholders in May, the proposal would collect an assessed value on properties in an area roughly bordered by Vine, Short, Broadway and Indiana in the direct center of downtown to establish a defined area that can be marketed and staffed by a group of some paid and some volunteer people focusing on beautification and assistance.
"The idea behind the Downtown Lexington Management DistrictÖ focuses a lot more on marketing and there are some considerations for enhanced beautification and certainly coordinating with the police, but not adding to their staffing levels and doing an ambassador program that is very common in cities to have people on the streets that can answer questions," DLC President Renee Jackson said.
Under state statute, the establishment of such a district requires that at least one third of property owners in the defined area representing at least 51 percent of the area's value agree to an added assessment, in this case $.10 for every $100 of property - for a total of $100 for every $100,000 of value. The statute requires that the district the be approved the area's legislative body - in Lexington's case, the Urban-County Council.
The defined district has 420 properties and around 300 owners according to DLC Vice President of Business Development, Kathryn Minton.
Jackson said the Management District's anticipated budget would be around $350,000 to $375,000 depending on how many tax exempt entities in the district - such as government buildings and churches - opted to contribute. Of that money around 63 percent would go toward marketing the area while 15 percent would go to beautification and 5 percent to an ambassador program, which would be staff mainly with volunteers. Of the remainder, 13 percent would go to management of the district and 4 percent would be charged by the Fayette County Sheriff's office to collect the property assessments.
The area proposed by the DLC has shrunk since originally rolled out in May. At that time the proposed district stretched to Jefferson Street and included Limestone from Avenue of Champions to Third Street.
Also differing from the original plan, this proposal calls for a five-year sunset clause: if the district were to continue beyond its initial 60 month run, the petition process would have to begin anew with the same set of guidelines for approval.
Around a decade ago another management district was proposed for the downtown but failed to materialize. Then, according to Jackson the district was focused on "Clean and Safe." Many management districts nationwide use their resources to keep streets cleared of trash and will even clear sidewalks during snowfall, as well as employing social workers that can help identify problems within the area and act as liaisons with law enforcement. But Jackson said that is not an issue that needs to be addressed in the central business district as those issues are currently being addressed by the city.
Currently the only management district operating in the commonwealth is in downtown Louisville, and a member of its board of directors, E. Phillip Scherer, will deliver a keynote address on Monday at the DLC's annual meeting to talk about what adding the district to downtown Louisville around 20 years ago has done for the area.
Of the USA's 75 most populated cities, Jackson said "It's safe to say at least 90 percent of those cities have active improvement districts," and Lexington is an outlier joined by San Francisco and Indianapolis as cities that are not operating such a program.
Jackson hopes to begin collecting signatures if not at the DLC's annual meeting, in the days afterward and feels good about the chances they will meet the required level of support.
"I believe that we have a good majority that are willing to sign the petition, but of course until we have those signatures, you just don't know," she said. "But through outreach and education people are more familiar with them now and seem to be more comfortable with the whole idea."
But Jackson said she would like to be able to present to council members for their approval a petition that reaches above the minimum. She hopes that to occur in February to allow for the launch of the district at the beginning of 2013.