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20)    Increase use of Business Improvement Districts
The revitalization of existing city, town, and village centers can be supported by stable local management structure that provides a sustainable funding source for maintenance, improvement, and marketing.   Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are special districts in which property owners vote to create such a structure, funded by a special assessment levied on property within the district. The assessments are collected and expended within the district for a range of services and programs, including maintenance, marketing, physical improvements, technical assistance, and district management.  The goal of a BID is to improve a specific commercial area by attracting customers, clients, shoppers and other businesses.

A BID must be a contiguous geographic area in which at least 75% of the land is zoned or used for commercial, retail, industrial, or mixed uses. A BID is established through a local petition and public hearing process. The petition must be signed by the owners of at least 60% of the real property and at least 51% of the assessed valuation of the real property within the proposed BID. The petition must also include delineation of the BID boundaries, a proposed improvement plan, a budget and an assessment/fee structure.  However, the enabling legislation also allows property owners to “opt out” of the BID within 30 days of its creation, leaving other property owners to pay for the program. This unpredictability creates a strong disincentive to creation of a BID and should be eliminated.  Additional technical assistance on the part of the Department of Housing and Community Development and MAPC will also facilitate adoption of BIDs. 

20.a    The Legislature should revise M.G.L. Chapter 40O to remove the 30-day opt out provision and other statutory disincentives to creation of a Business Improvement District

20.b    The Department of Housing and Community Development should increase the technical assistance available to communities interested in implementing a BID

21)    Facilitate use of Main Street or similar programs
Another model for business district revitalization is the National Trust for Historic Preservation “Main Street” program.  The most prominent local application of this program is in the City of Boston, which has 19 Main Street Districts.  Each district receives financial and technical assistance and intensive training in the Main Street approach from the City of Boston Main Streets office and the National Main Street Center.  In turn, each Main Street organization hires a full time Executive Director, raises matching funds, incorporates its organization and implements its programs according to an annual work plan.

Main Street programs apply a four-point comprehensive approach that creates and sustains the district's image: 1) community organization, 2) promotion, 3) design and 4) economic restructuring. Specific Main Street activities and operations include storefront improvement grants, public enhancements, local promotional and fund-raising events such as parades, auctions, multi-cultural festivals and holiday shopping events that strategically aim to enhance the image of the business district and attract consumers.  

While this program has demonstrated success in the region’s urban communities, it has not been widely applied in suburban town centers, where municipalities do not have access to the public funds that support urban programs.  New public-private partnerships between major employers and local municipalities could help to support the creation of such programs.