Caring cousins join fight

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High court strikes down raisin program as unconstitutional

<b>First Posted:</b> 12/4/2008<br><br>By Andrew M. Seder aseder@www.timesleader.comTimes Leader Staff Writer 
WILKES-BARRE &amp;ndash; In its first year of existence, the  Business Improvement District has made great strides in turning the downtown around. The evidence isn&amp;rsquo;t just visible as one strolls the streets, it&amp;rsquo;s also clear from the results of a survey of property owners in the district.

The BID annual report, released this past week, details the undertakings and accomplishments since the BID was established at the end of 2007. 
Among them:
&amp;bull; Aerosol Alley, a joint-venture with Arts YOUniverse, transformed a graffiti hotspot on the rear of the Catholic Social Services Building on Fairbarn Lane into a canvas for local spray-paint artists to create murals. 
&amp;bull; The &amp;ldquo;pocket park&amp;rdquo; on South Washington Street was restored in May. Flowers filled planters, benches were cleaned, painted and refurbished, and the park became something to look at rather than look away from. 
&amp;bull; A fa�ade matching-grant program, funded by a $120,000 private donation, enabled commercial property owners to apply for up to $5,000 to rehabilitate signage, storefronts and facades. 
The main goals of the initiative are increasing public safety and making the downtown cleaner. With the accomplishments of those two, downtown revitalization will follow, said Dan Block, the program&amp;rsquo;s executive director. 
About 550 properties are within the BID, which is bordered roughly by River, Washington, North and Academy streets. Everyone, regardless of profit margin, pays a fair share based on assessed value. Property owners within the district pay 2.57 percent of their property&amp;rsquo;s assessed value. That&amp;rsquo;s on top of property taxes they are already paying and, in some cases, dues paid to the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce.
But Block said the benefits outweigh the fee. Among what the fees cover is a three-person &amp;ldquo;clean team&amp;rdquo; that collects trash, leaves and snow andpaints benches and removes graffiti. 
Extra police patrols are visible downtown, thanks to the program. At least 80 man hours per week, among five officers, are paid for by the BID. The BID had an operating budget of about $404,000 during the 2007-08 fiscal year. 
 Block said things take time, but change is happening for the better. &amp;ldquo;The ratepayers know that the revitalization of downtown is an incremental process, and that dramatic improvements will not emerge overnight. (The survey) results clearly show that we are heading in the right direction,&amp;rdquo; Block said. 
He said the upcoming year will focus on &amp;ldquo;continuing to develop better relationships with the local businesses to address their specific concerns.&amp;rdquo;
Though an overwhelming number of property owners who completed the BID-issued survey responded favorably to the program&amp;rsquo;s first year, Jeffrey Pyros was not among them.
The owner of the Luzerne Bank Building on Public Square, Pyros has been opposed to the BID since its birth. He said the mandatory fee is too high and he doesn&amp;rsquo;t see the results equaling the $2,000 he pays annually. 
&amp;ldquo;I don&amp;rsquo;t see any change. I don&amp;rsquo;t see any improvements,&amp;rdquo; Pyros said. He said the program should end, and the business owners should keep their properties presentable and the city should keep the downtown safe and clean.
    
Andrew M. Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7269.

BID: Downtown is looking up