If you’ve been paying attention to Bend politics and local business matters, then you probably heard about the promise of the Bend Central District. Some envision it as a second downtown — a place to allow the city to grow and a hip business district to proliferate — with a new city hall to boot. But the reality has been slow to materialize. The genesis for the redevelopment of the Bend Central District is now well over a decade old. While some projects have moved forward, such as street improvements and the construction of a new food cart pod and bar near the east entrance to the planned Hawthorne pedestrian bridge, for the most part, the dream of the BCD continues to grow slowly.
In hopes of adding more economic energy to the area — and hiring an executive director to orchestrate it all — some local business owners and the Bend Central District Business Association worked with the City of Bend to propose a new business fee for the area. The idea is by having an executive director — a job that also exists for businesses in the downtown area — this person can be the one to speed things up.
However, during a recent Bend City Council meeting, in which councilors voted 4-2 to move the fee proposal forward, a group of business owners in the area expressed opposition. Some say the addition of yet another Council-mandated fee, on top of the transportation fee recently levied upon Bend residents and business owners, will send more businesses into the red. What’s more, it may drive them out of the area altogether. The group in opposition to the fee needs one-third of the BCD businesses to express opposition to the fee, and the proposal will die, according to recent Source reporting. It looks like they may have the numbers.
The Bend Central District has long suffered an identity problem. Many believe in the promise of the area, but most don’t want to be the first to risk starting a project and failing while waiting for more improvements or the arrival of the long-awaited bridge. Adding fees onto the backs of local business owners who have yet to see the fruits of a newly developed area is not well timed and appears to be exacerbating the lack of a cohesive vision for the area. Certain businesses simply don’t fit the mold that some leaders have for the area. The reality of creating a district that is appealing for mixed use retail and housing creates displacement. The vote is still out on whether this is something the majority — or in this case, the one-third minority, are in favor of and willing to undertake.
While the notion of a fee for beautification and organization seems well-meaning, timing is everything. Rather than pushing forward on what is already shaping up to be an unpopular policy, perhaps the City should take a pause and outline its own overarching plans for the area. Tell the BCD business owners what the City plans to do with the area around the former Rainbow Motel, which it owns and runs as a homeless shelter. Give a general timeline for the property’s transition to a Bend City Hall. Perhaps if local property owners had some notion of a timeline for that project, a better vision would come into view and BCD landowners and tenants would feel more comfortable launching their own projects. With that kind of momentum, perhaps it would be time for a new, plucky executive director for the BCD to come forward and talk about marketing and flower baskets.
The City has done real work on 2nd Street and is now beginning the Franklin underpass renovation, for which it deserves a great deal of credit. If this EID vote is going to move forward, those champions of a mixed-use vision for the District need to start pressing the flesh. An Economic Improvement District and added fees for the BCD are a big ask. They deserve a big-ask marketing campaign that everyone in the district can get behind and feel good about. Otherwise, a failed EID will fracture the fragile sense of self that the BCD is just starting to enjoy.
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