By MICHELLE GLADDEN
Downtown business and property owners in Asbury Park packed the House of Independents last week to learn just how a Special improvement District [SID] might help support their economic development.
“I hear a lot of complaints.” Art 629 Gallery owner and Asbury Underground founder Pat Schiavino said as he opened the Jan. 23 public meeting.
“I’m here every day…I have been on numerous boards in this town with very talented people with great intentions, great ideas that only die on the vine because we don’t have financing in place to really do anything,” he said.
Schiavino said the idea of forming a downtown SID came from numerous people. An exploratory team, which includes AP Distilling owner Andy Karas, and downtown developer and property owner Carter Sackman, set out to learn what they could about the legislative action that was established 41 years ago. Meetings with city officials led to the Thursday night meeting, he said.
“It was suggested by the City Council that we have this meeting to take the temperature of the business owners, residents and landlords to see if it’s viable to move this forward,” Schiavino said.
So, just what is a Special Improvement District ~ in a nutshell ~ it is a self-funded municipally-operated tax that is based on an equitably assessed valuation of properties within the district.
The collected funds can be used for everything from marketing and PR to streetscape improvements, beautification, parking advocacy, business recruitment and special events.
“I have been doing development work down here for at least 20 years,” said Karas, an attorney by practice. “I have seen Asbury back when no one was here; the windows were boarded up, and the properties were vacant. And I’ve seen what it did become. This last year at the distillery was beyond horrendous. It was probably the worst year that I’ve seen since we opened up.”
After a weighted breath, Karas went on to say, “We’ve seen Asbury Park where it flourished for several years, but we’ve also seen a downturn in the downtown…One of the issues we are dealing with is the fact that there is no promotion of the downtown. There is nobody who is doing social media, nobody who is organizing events for the business owners in their entirety.”
Karas said conversations with Schiavino that started 1.5 years ago included forming a downtown alliance to ‘deal with the issues, advocate on behalf of the businesses, and try to get things done.’ After attending a number of the city’s business and parking committee meetings, the ad hoc group brought in Stuart Koperweis of Economic Development Strategists.
Koperweis is a former Asbury Park resident whose relationship with the city dates back to the turn of the century. A former Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce executive director, Koperweis was first introduced to the community during work as a consultant for three friends who bought and reopened the Stone Pony. He moved to Asbury Park in 2000.
“There was nothing downtown,” he said. “Zero, zero, zero.”
His economic expansion work began in the early 90s when he served as president of the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation. Since then, he has worked on over 30 SIDs in NY and NJ, 15 of which he founded. Koperweis also served as director of government/corporate relations for Downtown NJ and has put together over $900 million in grant funding in support of various projects across the state.
He told the attendees a special improvement district is a public/private partnership modeled on the shared maintenance program of many suburban shopping centers. In essence, multiple property and business owners ‘align themselves to collectively plan their future.
“The key element is a reliable funding source for supplemental services and programs,” Koperweis said. “An improvement district does not replace what the government already provides for a municipality; it enhances those services. “
After sharing his personal history and experience working in the Asbury Park community, Kopeweis said “I have an understanding of what goes on in the town and I am very appreciative of all of you opening up your businesses over the years and making it grow.”
The next step, if given the nod, will be to begin a feasibility study. A steering committee would work through the three phases of planning, outreach and the legislative process.
“The majority of the board members should be property owners; they create a management corporation that usually becomes a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and they hire a manager to administer the operations of the improvement district.”
The new tax, which could run from $200 to $1,000 annually, would be determined by a formula based on size, value, location and deliverables, he said.
Also on hand to field questions was Robert Zuckerman, a city resident and former chairman of Red Bank’s SID – River Center.
“I’ve been doing this work for upwards of 20 years,” Zuckerman said. “I started my improvement district career in the lower east side of Manhattan.”
He then continued the work in downtown South Orange before serving on the South Orange Council and moving to Westfield’s improvement district.
The other takeaway from the presentation is that the SID would be an advocacy group, a collective voice in addressing issues like parking.
The Q&A portion of the meeting centered on not only the aforementioned downtown business community concerns but also on just who bears the burden of this new tax, its level of autonomy, and ability to maintain Asbury Park’s diverse art and cultural history.
Paranormal Books and Curiosities owner Kathy Kelly said there are existing resources she utilizes to ensure her business continues to thrive.
Discussions also centered on the Chamber of Commerce‘s role, its ability to get grants to help support programs and initiatives and the events it already sponsors downtown. Concerns were also raised about the board’s majority being comprised of property owners, with one business owner saying ‘the property owners and business owners have very different ideas.’
Interwoven owner Bianca Freida asked about the board structure, getting an affirmative that the board would be comprised of volunteers and that there must be at least one paid position ~ an executive director.
Sweet Dani B owner Dani Fiori voiced concerns over what the added tax would mean for small businesses.
“I came here to Asbury Park because I found an amazing small space to open a business,” she said. “I can afford the rent. I can’t afford another $100. I can’t afford for this to be passed on to me.”
In a follow-up interview, Koperweis said an estimated 80 percent of the meeting’s participants answered in the affirmative to the survey question that asked if they would support “the preparation of a feasibility study to determine whether a special improvement district should be formed to benefit the downtown (CBD Redevelopment Area) of Asbury Park?”
