Downtown owners speak out against Pottstown plan for business improvement district

POTTSTOWN — Only one of the 11 speakers who participated in Monday’s public hearing regarding the creation of a new Business Improvement District downtown, spoke in favor of it.

But while perhaps indicative of the level of support the proposal may have less to do with its ultimate success or failure than what happens next.

The proposed Business Improvement District, or BID, stretches from Manatawny Street to Warren Street along High Street. On King Street, it runs from Manatawny Street to North Charlotte Street. On Hanover Street, it includes the blocks from King to Industrial Highway.

All in all, it includes 298 properties that would be assessed with a new tax if the BID is enacted by the borough council.

As Assistant Borough Solicitor Matthew Hovey explained, the period between Monday and April 24 is effectively a voting period. If 40 percent or more of the properties affected send a formal objection to Borough Manager Justin Keller by April 24, “that will constitute a veto.”

That means if 120 property owners who would be taxed formally object, the council cannot enact the new business district. If they do not, “borough council can enact the new district.”

Hovey also clarified that objections raised at Monday’s public hearing do not constitute a formal objection, which must be received in writing from the property owners affected.

This is not to say there were no objections voiced on Monday. There were.

“This is nothing but plain extortion,” said Keith Diener.

“If all the people in the borough are going to benefit, how come we few people are paying the tax for it?” asked King Street resident Tom Heckiman.

Peggy Lee-Clark, executive director of PAED, Pottstown’s economic development agency, pointed out that “there is no legal vehicle to assess everyone in town for this.”

Lee-Clark said PAED, which stands for Pottstown Area Economic Development, has been working on this proposal for three years. Last year, a proposal for a much larger district, which included the Circle of Progress near the Pottstown airport, was withdrawn after owners voiced objections at a public hearing similar to Monday’s.

Lee-Clark said since this new smaller district was proposed, state funding has become available through a program highlighted by Gov. Josh Shapiro. Without the BID being in place access to that funding would be closed off for Pottstown, she said. The program outlined for Pottstown, which would be overseen by a board of directors made up of property owners in the district, is based on a successful one in Lancaster city, she said.

“This is about we, not me,” Lee-Clark said. “The end game here is raised property values and decreased vacancies; it’s that simple,” she said.

Business owner Keith Costello, who said he has “millions invested” in downtown Pottstown properties, was the only speaker to agree with Lee-Clark. “I grew up in Lancaster and it was an awful city,” he said. But the Downtown Improvement District there helped to clean it up and make it the thriving city it is today, he said.

“If this gets the deadbeat landlords off their butts to fill the commercial spaces, if this gets them to take action, the whole town will benefit,” Costello said.

The 3 percent assessment the BID would impose on properties will raise the rent for businesses, said Sheila Dugan, who runs Grumpy’s Handcarved Sandwiches on High Street and who was the last executive director of the Pottstown Downtown Improvement District Authority before it became defunct.

“My landlord has already to me, this cost will be passed on to us,” Dugan said.

Aram Ecker said the assessment would most certainly raise the rents in the eight apartments he owns.

Paula Kiss said, “We don’t need higher taxes to pay for what we do already ourselves,” she said in reference to keeping the street clean in front o her property. “Shrinking the area does not improve this nonsensical plan.”

Josh Souders, owner of The Very Best Weiner Shop, said rather than tax local businesses even more, the borough should enforce the litter ordinances already on the books. “Why do we need a committee?”