Modesto survey: Property owners willing to pay for better downtown

Downtown Modesto property owners appear to be willing to spend their own money to improve downtown, according to a recent survey.

A group of downtown interests commissioned San Diego-based New City America to survey property owners to gauge their interest in forming a community benefit district, in which they would assess themselves to pay for such services as more sweeping and steam cleaning of sidewalks.

The survey generated positive results. But there still is much work to be done before this proposal could become a reality. If everything falls in place, the district could start collecting assessments and providing services next year.

The survey was mailed to property owners in November and generated responses from owners of about half of the property within the proposed district’s boundary. The boundary roughly encompasses Seventh Street to Needham Street-Downey Avenue and G Street to L Street.

Support is not based on one vote per property owner. It is weighted based on how much property – as measured by lot size, building square footage and how much property fronts the street – someone owns.

Property owners owning more than 45 percent of all of the property within the proposed district – as calculated by those three factors – support the proposal while people owning no more than 2 percent of all of the property oppose it, according to the survey. A small number had no opinion, and about half did not respond.

“I have a comfort level that there is substantial conceptional support for this,” New City America President Marco Li Mandri said.

He said the survey showed respondents were most concerned about having a cleaner downtown and dealing with the homeless and panhandlers. There also was support for more landscaping and marketing and promoting downtown.

The city and a steering committee are working on creating the district, though the initial impetus came from several downtown property owners and others more than a year ago. Committee members include Mayor Garrad Marsh, attorneys Dave Gianelli and Bart Barringer, Gallo Center for the Arts CEO Lynn Dickerson, Never Boring Design president David Boring and Ryan Swehla with the commercial real estate firm NAI Global.

New City America – which has helped form more than 72 community benefit and similar districts – charged $30,000 for the Modesto survey and associated work, with the city paying $15,000 of that. The work to form a district will cost $40,000.

Josh Bridegroom – the city’s downtown planning manager – said Modesto is considering paying $20,000 of the $40,000, with the steering committee raising the balance. He said the city expects to get reimbursed through the assessments from the community benefit district.

Downtown advocates believe the district is a way to develop the area’s potential and capitalize on its assets, such as its restaurants and shops and the Gallo Center, by providing services the city cannot afford.

“We have a lot of issues downtown – cleanliness, transients, security, image and a lot of empty space,” Gianelli said. “We are excited about this. This is the type of collective effort we need to see more of in our community.”

Community benefit districts are used elsewhere in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. Property owners in Turlock, Stockton and Tracy have formed them or similar assessment districts. The assessments are paid by all property owners, including government, churches and nonprofits.

Modesto’s next steps include creating a management plan outlining the district’s boundary, services, costs and management structure. Once the plan is done, the steering committee will need to gather signatures in support of the plan from property owners who would pay at least 30 percent of the proposed assessments.

The City Council then would have to pass a resolution to create the district and hold a mail-in election among property owners in the district. The votes would be weighted based on how much property owners would pay in assessments. The process includes a hearing for the public to address the council. If the vote to create a district passes, council members then may vote to form the district.

If all of this is done by July, the assessments would get on the property tax bills that are due in December and April, allowing the district to collect assessments and provide services in 2016.

This story was originally published January 21, 2015 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Modesto survey: Property owners willing to pay for better downtown."