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Vista business improvement district proposal draws broad support at Columbia hearing
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Summary
Property owners and neighborhood leaders urged City Council to approve a proposed Vista Business Improvement District that would assess commercial properties and generate an estimated $1.6 million a year (about $2 million including an existing hospitality-tax contribution). Council closed the public hearing and scheduled first reading for April 21.
City Council on April 13 heard a detailed public hearing on a proposed Vista Business Improvement District (BID), where property owners and neighborhood leaders urged the council to approve a self-assessed funding model to support clean-and-safe services, marketing and public‑realm improvements in the Vista district.
Architect and Vista property owner Scott Garvin told the council the BID is a proactive step to manage growth in an area that has seen significant private investment and is poised for more development. "We need those services, and we need them now," Garvin said, noting his experience managing properties in the Vista and on Main Street.
Carrie Dunfee of JLPD described the BID’s proposed structure. Under the plan, a standard assessment of 0.001844 per $1 of property value would apply to nonexempt parcels and an additional frontage fee of about $4 per frontage foot would apply to core commercial properties. Dunfee said the assessment would generate roughly $1.6 million annually and that including an existing hospitality‑tax contribution of about $400,000 would bring the total to approximately $2 million to be reinvested only in the Vista.
Supporters who spoke during the hearing emphasized economic and quality‑of‑place benefits. Dale Marshall, an architect who has worked in the Vista for nearly four decades, called the BID “the next step” to manage growth around new riverfront projects and other investments. "This is the next step to allow us to manage all the growth we've had and to create a place where people who come in see a beautiful, clean, well‑maintained... place to live, work, play," Marshall said.
Beth Frost, president of the Vista Guild, said the Guild’s long‑running clean‑and‑safe program shows the district’s needs and that a BID would expand services, events and marketing. Carolyn Lee Decker, president of the Vista Neighborhood Association, urged the council to include a Vista resident on the BID board so residents have a voice equal to property owners. "Our residents matter just as much as the property owners," Decker said.
Matt Kennel, representing the Main Street District, said Main Street’s decades of BID experience demonstrate the model’s benefits and offered partnership between the two districts.
One commenter, Christy Fossum, used her time to press the mayor on long‑distance bus service and possible Amtrak or intermodal solutions for Columbia; Mayor Daniel J. Rickerman said conversations with Amtrak and federal funding discussions are in early stages and that staff and the transit authority will follow up.
The council closed the public hearing and the clerk announced an ordinance for first reading will appear on the April 21 agenda. If approved in subsequent steps, the BID would be governed by a nonprofit board accountable to the city and assessed property owners, with exempt properties identified in the proposal (including nonprofit and publicly owned parcels).
