While plans to form one business improvement district (BID) are on hold, leaders in two other BIDs are moving forward with several improvements.
Officials with the LeFleur East Foundation say they put on hold plans to form the LeFleur East BID as a result of the coronavirus.
“We’re pausing things until the virus settles down,” said Warren Speed, one of the three LeFleur East board members spearheading the effort. “We don’t want to ask businesses for money while they’re dealing with the outbreak.”
LeFleur East officials announced plans for the BID late last year. The district would run along Lakeland Drive from the Pearl River to I-55 North, and from I-55 North at Lakeland to Canton Mart Road. Along Lakeland, it would take in everything from the median north, as well as properties along both sides of I-55. The area includes Highland Village, The District at Eastover, Maywood Mart, Jacksonian Plaza, LeFleur’s Gallery and others.
The BID would focus on landscape maintenance and beautification, Speed said.
Meanwhile, the Fondren BID recently brought on a firm to help beautify the area, while the Downtown Jackson BID has begun several public beautification projects.
BIDS are special taxing districts, where owners pay an additional assessment along with their annual property taxes to fund district initiatives, such as special plantings, adding benches or hiring additional security.
The Fondren BID, approved in 2019, is bordered by Lakeland Drive at I-55 to the east, Oxford Avenue between Hartfield and Taylor Streets to the west, the intersection of North State Street and Old Canton Road to the south and Hartfield and Glenway Drive to the north.
Owners there pay an additional eight-cent assessment for each square foot of land owned, as well as for each square foot of building owned with BID boundaries.
Initial revenues began coming in February, funds that are already being used. The board recently approved a contract with Block by Block to pick up litter and serve as ambassadors to help visitors to the area.
“They began (last) Monday,” said board member Mike Peters. “If you come riding through the neighborhood, they’re wearing red shirts with black lettering. They’re on the job.”
Their role includes cleaning up sidewalks, curbs and public landscaping and serving as “ambassadors.”
“They pick up trash every day. They also patrol the neighborhood, walk around to make sure that everything is going OK,” Peters explained. “They’re there to help if someone is looking for directions, if someone has a car broken down or a flat tire – they’re there to do all that stuff.”
Farther south, officials with the Downtown BID are also staying busy. “We’re trying to promote our restaurants, trying to keep our public area clean and are doing some beautification projects,” said John Gomez, interim president of Downtown Jackson Partners. (DJP).
DJP is the non-profit that oversees district operations, much like FRF in Fondren.
Among projects, DJP is using Block by Block to do spring plantings and replace mulch in the Capitol Street flower beds.
The 65-block district runs from George Street in the North to Court Street and South Street in the south. East to west, it stretches from Jefferson Street to Mill Street.
The area has had significantly less traffic since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.
“Unfortunately, there’s less traffic,” Gomez said. “But it allows us to do much more work, without interfering with people’s schedules and routines.”
