Examining what zones do and what role governments should play
Calgary and the province are in the midst of redefining what it is to be a Business Revitalization Zone (BRZ) and what their relationship with government should be. BRZs are commercial districts that have banded together to improve an area — think Kensington or Marda Loop.
“The whole reason that they came about… was to revitalize downtown areas that had become kind of derelict because of the growth of suburbs” explains Cathie Christenson issues analyst and the primary BRZ liaison for the city of Calgary.
“The way we’ve been working with BRZs in Calgary… has been the same for the past 30 years” she says. “How can we look at this differently so that we can think about what perhaps is the next generation of BRZs? …Is there something that we can be doing that allows for more innovation that creates more vibrancy?”
Such questions motivated Ald. Richard Pootmans to bring forward a council motion in August 2012 calling for a reassessment of the city’s relationship with Calgary’s 10 BRZs. At the provincial level the Alberta government has gathered BRZ managers from across the province to redefine the concept as BRZ operations are legislated under the provincial Municipal Government Act.
A BRZ is created when at least 25 per cent of the businesses in a definable area petition city hall to be named as such. The immediate benefit is that the city will increase business taxes in the area and give the difference directly to the BRZ office to be spent as the zone’s board directs. Excluding funds for the Calgary Downtown Association (CDA) which is by far the largest Calgary BRZs survive on an average annual budget of $150000 obtained solely through the tax levy.
In addition to the Kensington Marda Loop and the CDA Calgary’s 10 BRZs include Uptown 17 (17th Avenue S.W.) Fourth Street S.W. Bowness International Avenue (17th Avenue S.E.) Victoria Park Inglewood and Montgomery. Together they represent some 5400 companies 20 per cent of Calgary’s business community.
So what exactly does a BRZ and its management do?
Officially its purpose is to enhance the economic development of an area through marketing improve the physical environment of public spaces improve public parking and lobby for policies that “support economic vitality” in the zone. “BRZs are the economic incubators of business in this city” says one municipal document.
Annie MacInnis is the executive director of the Kensington BRZ as well as co-chair of Calgary Business Revitalization Zones overseeing all BRZs in the city. She says clarifying the work and character of any BRZ ultimately in an attempt to attract shoppers to the area’s businesses is her priority.
“How do I get shoppers to come here and spend time in Kensington?” she asks. “Branding involves trying to get some cohesiveness around: what does your area offer? What is this place?”
MacInnis speaks of Kensington as her own. She has lived in the area since moving to Calgary from Nova Scotia in 1981. For her making Kensington successful consists of lots of advertising decorating the boulevards with flower baskets and banners upgrading street fixtures and hiring additional street cleaners. There’s also a lot of diplomacy an aspect highlighted by the Kensington BRZ’s November quarrel with Market Collective which resulted in the artists’ group abandoning Kensington for a new home on International Avenue.
“Trying to keep 280 businesses happy and liaise on their behalf with a whole slough of city departments — and if you factor into that shoppers and buskers and you know all the social issues and graffiti artists — if you start to factor in all those things then yeah compromise is my middle name” she says. “Not all the BRZs co-operate but we consider ourselves to be the outdoor shopping districts. Our competition should be malls not each other.”
Ald. Peter Demong suggests redefining the city’s relationship with BRZs should involve removing government from the equation. He supports city hall having a say in a zone’s creation due to the role business taxes play in funding the BRZs but after that he thinks they should be left alone.
“From what I understand [of] what BRZs do they do pretty much the exact same thing a mall manager will do” says Demong. “Once you’ve created the BRZ why would city council be involved in any way shape or form?”
Though city staff and aldermen meet regularly with BRZ boards to discuss infrastructure concerns festivals and long-term municipal plans their only mandated contact is council’s requirement to approve every BRZ’s budget on an annual basis.
“I’ve wondered in the back of my mind what if council said no to how you wanted to spend your money? But considering that the BRZ is a board of directors voted on by the businesses in the BRZ it’s… none of our business. I mean it’s their money let them spend it how they want to” argues Demong. Christenson disagrees.
“There’s a good reason for us to be involved because I think we want to be a part of developing an attractive city. I don’t think we want to have that much of an arm’s-length relationship with things that are going to make this city great” she says.
Despite bringing in about $500 per business annually having the money to draw shoppers out of the malls and into the pedestrian-oriented shopping districts is another headache for BRZs.
“Having successful pedestrian-oriented retail districts is essential for the health of the city” says Ald. Druh Farrell who lives in Kensington and was once the executive director of that BRZ.
“The financial constraints have been very difficult for the BRZs. They are not able to provide the benefits that [BRZs] have been able to in other cities…. [Kensington’s] local improvements the street standards are at the end beyond the end of their life cycle. We’ve had decorative street lamps that have fallen over. I think a couple years ago a lamppost fell on somebody. So they need to be replaced. It’s bad for business” Farrell says.
“BRZs would love to have more money to do stuff” agrees MacInnis. “I want to see the area succeed. I want to see my businesses succeed. I think that BRZs are the jewels of the city.”
Farrell says the city is looking at new ways to fund the BRZs as she believes the current business levy is inadequate. But with that comes an expectation that they will be more accountable to the city primarily by writing approved retail strategies and business plans. Christenson says they should also begin to objectively measure their success.
“You could look at year over year whether you’re impacting vacancy rates for businesses… measurements of foot traffic in your area… the amount of visible trash and litter. People can do assessments that say ‘our neighbourhood is prettier than it was six months ago’” Christenson explains. “Right now we rely pretty heavily on anecdotal [evidence] but I think what we’d like to see is let’s come up with some ways of capturing that information in a more objective fashion.”
Christenson also says more money isn’t in the cards. She would rather focus the discussion on how the BRZs can do more with what they have. “We all know that money would make things better. [But] I don’t think that there’s more money coming down the pipes.” The first report to council on the subject is due in March.
