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Welcome to the homepage of the Downtown
Northampton Business Improvement District. This website will
give you the information about the formation of a BID. Please
visit the site and give us your thoughts and comments
here.
The Launch of the Northampton BID
The
formation of a Business Improvement District for Downtown
Northampton took a significant step forward on March 5.
Northampton’s City Council took the first of two votes to
approve the BID. The
second and final vote may occur at their next meeting on
Thursday, March 19.
The
Downtown Steering Committee leading the formation of a
Downtown Northampton Business Improvement District (BID)
submitted its petition to the City in December with the 300+
signatures required by the legislation. A petition campaign
began in October 2007 to demonstrate property owner support
of the BID. 60% of the
property owners in the district must sign the petition in
order to establish it.. On Thursday, January 15 the
Northampton City Council opened a public hearing to invite
public input. After 8 hours of comments from a broad cross
section of the community and viewpoints, the Council closed
the public hearing on Thursday, February 19.
Led by the Downtown Steering Committee,
the effort to create a BID
reflects the hard work of many downtown property and
business owners. Through an extensive public outreach
process, the committee developed a business plan for vital
downtown services and improvements that will become the
strategy once the BID
is formed. Community forums, focus groups, surveys and
individual conversations held over two years, determined the
areas of greatest need to help downtown Northampton sustain
its prominence. The BID
petition process, started in October 2007, achieved
widespread support from large and small commercial property
owners, businesses, institutions, government, and residents
who share the belief that the BID
is a real, responsive plan that will accomplish more
collectively than any
single property owner can achieve on their own.
Members of the BID Steering Committee
The Committee believes it’s time for Downtown property owners
and businesses to come together and boldly take charge of
their success. A BID is the best opportunity for a promising,
vital Downtown Northampton.
What is a BID?
A BID is a contiguous geographic area in which property owners
vote to initiate, manage, and finance supplemental services
above and beyond the City’s services in their district. For
Northampton, the purpose of the BID is to return Downtown
Northampton to a vital visitor destination that successfully
competes as an entertainment, restaurant, and shopping
district. Read more about BIDS.
BID Results
For results of the Downtown Survey and notes from the public
forums, click here.
To view the State Enabling Legislation
for BIDS, click here.
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