ST. CLOUD — Property owners in downtown St. Cloud have taken revitalization of the area into their own hands, asking the City Council for permission to create a business improvement district, hoping to increase property taxes to cover the costs of improvements.
The St. Cloud City Council took the first step toward granting residents' wishes on Monday by unanimously approving the creation of the five-year district. Public hearings on implementing the tax will now take place. A public hearing on imposing the tax is scheduled for Oct. 7, according to city documents.
“We're not asking (the city) to invest in us,” said downtown property owner Michelle Henderson, “all we're asking is permission to do it ourselves, because this is something we're paying for ourselves to protect our community.”
According to city maps, the new business district would cover both the east and west sides of downtown St. Cloud, and only that area would be subject to potential taxation. The district is working with Block by Block, a company that has had success in cities like Fargo and St. Paul, to implement the additional services outlined in the ordinance creating the business improvement district.
Block by Block focuses on safety, community service, cleanup and special projects. These areas include police support, security escorts, de-escalation, landscaping, graffiti removal and more.
“These are beyond the scope of services that the city provides,” Downtown Task Force Chairman Greg Winfeldt said. “They are safety officers who are trained in de-escalation. They have a variety of training.”
Block by Block plans to hire three to five full-time employees to help with the new St. Cloud neighborhood, Winfeldt said.
These services would cost between $400,000 and $600,000 a year, and would be funded through upcoming taxes and private donations, according to the presentation, with nearly 60 companies pledging more than $750,000 to the project.
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Businesses are pleased the district was approved, in part because of talent concerns. At Monday night's City Council meeting, many business leaders spoke out, calling for a more vibrant downtown to attract workers to live in the St. Cloud area.
“Today, people have many opportunities and choices about where they live and work, and downtown is one of the first things individuals and families look at when deciding on a community,” said Joan Schatz, chair of the Greater St. Cloud Development Commission. “People want to live in places that are growing and vibrant.”
During the meeting, business leaders said that if downtown is a vibrant place for employees to spend time outside of work hours, it will encourage employees to stay at their current jobs and not relocate, which will help with employee retention as well as recruitment efforts.
Officials from entertainment venues including the Great River Children's Museum and the Paramount Center for the Arts also spoke at Monday night's meeting. They said downtown improvements will attract more tourists and expand the downtown experience, noting that customers typically spend about $25 at other downtown establishments when visiting their facilities, which adds up to $1.5 million a year at the Paramount alone.
“We often see people from St. Cloud visiting the downtown area to participate in the arts and discover what St. Cloud has to offer,” said Paramount Center for the Arts Executive Director Gretchen Burka, “so let's invest in downtown to keep them coming back.”
St. Cloud State University interim president Larry Dietz said improvements to downtown St. Cloud could help boost enrollment, given that declining enrollment has contributed to the university's financial struggles. Dietz said students want to leave college with a degree, but they also want a good experience, and that includes off-campus recreation.
Five years after City Council approval, the Downtown Business Improvement District will need to go through another public hearing process and get City Council approval again in order to continue.
Windfeldt said even though the district was approved, much of the work falls on St. Cloud residents and there needs to be a change in discourse around downtown.
“To talk about downtown, people need to go there, experience it and have the experience,” Windfeldt said. “You hear a lot of negative things about our community and downtown. The problem is, when everyone says bad things about downtown, people believe it.”
Corey Schmidt covers local government for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.
