On July 15, 2008, the Raleigh City Council voted unanimously to establish a municipal service district (MSD) — or business improvement district — on Hillsborough Street. The objective of the MSD is to help revitalize areas along Hillsborough Street. The City has a similar MSD in the downtown area.

MSDs are a funding mechanism used to provide revenue for a variety of services that enhance existing municipal services in the business improvement district. Additional revenue collected from special assessments on property owners in a MSD is used for maintenance, business recruitment, advocacy, management, marketing, security and other services. The special assessment for property owners in the Hillsborough Street MSD will be 0.10 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation. The special tax rate will take effect on July 1, 2009. It will expire on June 30, 2014 unless extended by the City Council.

The Hillsborough Street MSD will run east-to-west along the street from St. Mary’s School to Meredith College. The MSD’s southern boundary will follow the railroad right-of-way that crosses the N.C. State University campus. The northern boundary is generally areas one block north of Hillsborough Street. The MSD contains 123 acres of land and more than 2 million square feet of built space. There are approximately 210 businesses in the Hillsborough Street MSD.

The City of Raleigh has worked with neighborhood residents, business owners and other property owners in studying the establishment of a MSD along Hillsborough Street. Leading the City’s Hillsborough Street MSD Formation Study was a volunteer steering committee which consists of Hillsborough Street property owners and others with an interest in the area. The City hired Downtown Professionals Network to manage the MSD study.

On July 1, 2008, the Raleigh City Council held a public hearing on the
creation of the Hillsborough Street Business Improvement District.
The public input was favorable and the Council appears ready to enact
such a district. They agreed to place the resolution necessary to
create the District on the July 15, 2008 Council agenda. If passed on
that date, the District will be created on July 1, 2009. This will be
a huge step forward in enabling the Hillsborough Street community to
improve itself. Thanks should be extended to the many members and
friends of the Partnership who worked to make this happen, including
Ralph Recchi, Craig Ralph, Donna Bailey, Alan Lovette, Charles
Leffler, Chris Ragone, Sheila Carter and city staff member Kristopher
Larsen.

A General Membership meeting is scheduled for
June 11. 4 to 6pm At Nelson Hall (NCSU College of Management), room 3220
On Hillsborough near Dan Allen Drive.
Our work program has the following topics scheduled for discussion:

TOOT THE HORN:
Produce Dining/Shopping Guide
Produce Parking Plan/Guide
Expand/Market Transit on Hillsborough Street
Electronic Newsletter/Kiosks

Stragegy: Riemann and Williams to collaborate on upgrading web site to develop “newsletter” , “calendar”, and “advertising” functions. Williams to focus on Dining/Shopping/Parking guide both in printed and electronic forms. Mills to help establish link to Raleigh Police calendar of events on street and links to other organizations that sponsor events. Chapman to contact transit officials to seek help. Harwood to seek help from College of Design on Kiosk concept. Ragone to repeat/revamp Banner Program.

CELEBRATE:
Support Homecoming Week
Halloween Hike on Hillsborough Street
Armistice Day Celebration

Seymore to develop Homecoming Week and Return to school events and calendar. Mills, Lovette and Palmer to lead in Hillsborough Halloween Hike event planning. Williams and Jennings to lead in Taste of Hillsborough to be scheduled later than last year, in more concentrated location, and possibly in conjunction with Groundbreaking. Chapman to lead in Armistice Day celebration with Sister Cities Association. Riemann links to calendar function. Develop common format for events from Sept. thru Nov. in location, promotion, music, art.

ALSO: an update on the most current actions by the City regarding street improvements and the Business Improvement District

The Raleigh City Council will hold a public hearing on a business improvement district (BID) proposed for Hillsborough Street on July 1 at 7 p.m. in the council chamber at the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex, 222 W. Hargett St.

BIDs are a funding mechanism used to provide revenue for a variety of services that enhance existing municipal services in the business improvement district. Additional revenue collected from special assessments on property owners in a BID are used for maintenance, business recruitment, advocacy, management, marketing, security and other services. The City currently has a BID in the downtown area. The Downtown Raleigh Alliance manages the downtown BID for the City.

As required by state law, the City has sent notices to property and business owners in the proposed Hillsborough Street BID. The BID would run east-to-west along Hillsborough Street from St. Mary’s School to Meredith College. The BID’s southern boundary would follow the railroad right-of-way that crosses the N.C. State University campus. The northern boundary is generally areas one block north of Hillsborough Street. The proposed BID contains 121 acres of land and more than 2.5 million square feet of built space.

The City of Raleigh and members of the Hillsborough Street Partnership have worked with neighborhood residents, business owners and other property owners in studying the establishment of a BID along Hillsborough Street. Leading the City’s Hillsborough Street BID Formation Study is a volunteer steering committee which consists of Hillsborough Street property owners and others with an interest in the area. The City hired Downtown Professionals Network to manage the study.

More information about the Hillsborough Street BID can be obtained by visiting www.hillsboroughbid.com or contacting Kristopher Larson with the City of Raleigh Department of City Planning at 807-5220.

Partnership Board member Paul Blankinship has asked for the support of the Hillsborough Partnership Board for the effort by the University Park Homeowners Association to expand the proposed Hillsborough Street Improvement project to include the side streets that run north from the corridor and are entryways into the neighborhood. Apparently the current funding being proposed by the staff does not include monies for streetscape or landscape improvements for these areas. To do so would add another $100,000 to the costs of the project. Since the total costs for the current project far exceed earlier estimates, it is not clear what impact adding these features would have on funding for other aspects of the project. You are invited to come to the upper level of Dunkin’Donuts at 8:15am on Saturday, April 26th, to discuss this proposal. The meeting will preceed the beginning of the Spring Clean Up scheduled for 9am that morning. You are also urged to contact Paul for further information.

The following are the specific modifications and extensions of streetscape that the UPHA would like to support:

UPHA Side Street Streetscape Improvements

Ranked from A to C with “A” being the highest priority, the following are UPHA’s request
for side street streetscape improvements:

A”

Chamberlain Street: On both sides of the street, continue the brick sidewalk to the first
driveway entrance on the west side and to the Compiegne Park on the east side. Plant trees on west side only.

Pogue Street: West side only, continue brick sidewalk and tree planting to rear property line, or, even to Vanderbilt if possible.

Horne Street: On both sides of the street, continue the brick sidewalk to first driveway
cut (west side) and alley entrance (east side). No trees planted.

“B”

Logan Court: On both sides of the street, continue the brick sidewalk to first driveway
cut then on to Compiegne Park (west side) and on to Hope Street (east side). No trees
planted.

Enterprise Street: On both sides of the street, continue the brick sidewalk to the first
driveway cut. No trees planted.

Maiden Lane: On both sides of the street, continue the brick sidewalk to first driveway
cut. Not trees planted.

Ferndell Avneue: On east side of the street, continue the brick sidewalk to first driveway
cut. No trees planted

“C”

Gardner Street: On both sides of the street, continue the brick sidewalk to first driveway
cut. No trees to be planted.

Note: “No trees planted” means there are usually existing trees that would remain, no
additional tree planting requested. Some places, like the east side of Horne Street, may
not allow enough sidewalk room for tree planting.

HillsboroughStreet.org has a new look!

• The upper-right corner of the page has four navigation tabs.
• The image gallery has clickable images that direct viewers to their sources.
• The sidebar has links for visiting partner websites, contacting me (Mitch), and navigating posts (such as this post).
• This text block will be used for updates and articles submitted through the Partnership.

Please contact me with feedback regarding the new site. Whether you notice a technical issue, have a design comment, or would like content added to the site, I want to know. Enjoy!

Mitch Danforth,
Webmaster, NCSU Student, and
Hillsborough Street Partnership Trustee