Special Improvement District Expansion Endorsed
The City Council gave initial approval Wednesday (May 3, 2006) to an ordinance that would not only expand the Special Improvement District, but would also add numerous apartment buildings to the list of properties that are assessed a surtax to stimulate business.
City officials want to expand the SID beyond the original downtown and South Avenue business districts, adding downtown commercial and industrial properties from Front Street north to the Green Brook.
Designated SID properties are assessed a 3 percent surtax, which is matched with Urban Enterprise Zone funds to create a budget for improvements in the district. The program began in 2004 with 428 properties generating $113,607 in assessments. With the UEZ funds, the first-year budget was $227,214 to be spent on extra security patrols, extra trash pickups, hanging flower baskets and SID-logo tiles on trash cans.
Now the city plans to add 84 commercial and industrial properties in the expanded district. But a list attached to the ordinance also shows a large number of apartment buildings being added, even though the ordinance establishing the district excludes tax-exempt properties and those used “for residential purposes.“ Many of the apartment buildings are outside the proposed downtown expansion boundaries.
One block bounded by Park, Crescent and Watchung avenues and East Seventh Street had only one commercial property, the Scott Drugs building, on the original list. The amended list adds a dozen more properties, all multi-family buildings in a residential zone. Scott Drugs is zoned for commercial use.
On that block alone, the proposed assessments would add more than $5,000 to the SID coffers. Most of the apartment buildings are owned by Connolly Properties. Owner David Connolly could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
The district is administered by a management corporation. It has a web site at www.positivelyplainfield.org which is shared with the Plainfield Chamber of Commerce. A quarterly magazine, also named Positively Plainfield, is mailed to city households.
The Spring issue details a trip that SID board members and city staff made to Jersey City to learn more about the effectiveness of closed-circuit television cameras to combat street crime. City officials are contemplating using a similar system downtown.
The ordinance expanding the district and adding the multi-family buildings will be up for a public hearing and final passage later this month.
--Bernice Paglia
City officials want to expand the SID beyond the original downtown and South Avenue business districts, adding downtown commercial and industrial properties from Front Street north to the Green Brook.
Designated SID properties are assessed a 3 percent surtax, which is matched with Urban Enterprise Zone funds to create a budget for improvements in the district. The program began in 2004 with 428 properties generating $113,607 in assessments. With the UEZ funds, the first-year budget was $227,214 to be spent on extra security patrols, extra trash pickups, hanging flower baskets and SID-logo tiles on trash cans.
Now the city plans to add 84 commercial and industrial properties in the expanded district. But a list attached to the ordinance also shows a large number of apartment buildings being added, even though the ordinance establishing the district excludes tax-exempt properties and those used “for residential purposes.“ Many of the apartment buildings are outside the proposed downtown expansion boundaries.
One block bounded by Park, Crescent and Watchung avenues and East Seventh Street had only one commercial property, the Scott Drugs building, on the original list. The amended list adds a dozen more properties, all multi-family buildings in a residential zone. Scott Drugs is zoned for commercial use.
On that block alone, the proposed assessments would add more than $5,000 to the SID coffers. Most of the apartment buildings are owned by Connolly Properties. Owner David Connolly could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
The district is administered by a management corporation. It has a web site at www.positivelyplainfield.org which is shared with the Plainfield Chamber of Commerce. A quarterly magazine, also named Positively Plainfield, is mailed to city households.
The Spring issue details a trip that SID board members and city staff made to Jersey City to learn more about the effectiveness of closed-circuit television cameras to combat street crime. City officials are contemplating using a similar system downtown.
The ordinance expanding the district and adding the multi-family buildings will be up for a public hearing and final passage later this month.
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 5:08 AM
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