By Shannon Parsons
The Preston Street Business Improvement Area says it is planning to expand its boundaries this June, making Little Italy a bigger and more defined community in Ottawa.
The Preston Street BIA is redrawing the east and west boundaries it defined 20 years ago. The new boundaries reach east to Rochester Street and west to the land surrounding the O-Train tracks, which includes a great deal of vacant land.
“Once this land is developed the new businesses will have huge benefits from our marketing, community reputation and the amount of advocacy work we do,” says Lori Mellor, executive director of the Preston Street BIA. “In the meantime, we are finding a way to make the expansion work.”
A BIA is an area where local businesses join together to promote one area of town. It plans local improvements and promotional events with the city’s support.
The Preston Street BIA currently has 142 members. Membership is mandatory for businesses within the BIA boundaries and members must pay a zone levy. The businesses then benefit from advertising, beautification projects and events involving the community.
The plans to expand the area have been passed by City Hall but now must enter a 60-day period where any new members can object to the expansion. If one third of the members object, the boundaries will not change.
Because much of the expansion land has not developed into commercial property Mellor does not expect many objections.
Mellor says her motivation for expansion is to create a unified and stronger Preston Street community.
“There’s strength in numbers,” says Mellor.
BIA chairman and co-owner of Preston Hardware Mario Giannetti agrees.
“The stronger your voice is as a community the more appealing you are to a consumer,” says Giannetti.
Right now, the Preston Street BIA is planning a street beautification process to attract more shoppers to the area, something Giannetti says all members, new and old, will benefit from. The process includes installing new lighting, benches and wider sidewalks.
With new members the levy for membership will go down, making the benefits of a BIA expansion more appealing to current members.
Because of the current unusually shaped boundaries it may be the case that one business is a BIA member while their neighbour is not, meaning one pays the levy but both benefit from community projects.
One of Mellor’s goals is to make the boundaries more square-shaped so that the membership is fair and all those who benefit share the costs. The more new businesses that develop, the lower the costs would be.
However, some BIA members would prefer the land to be developed into residential property instead of commercial.
“If people come in just to work here they stay nine to four and then go home,” says Joe Cotroneo, owner of Pub Italia. “We need to develop a strong residential community.”
For Cotroneo the area that will have the most impact on the Preston Street community is the LeBreton Flats currently in development. This area will connect Little Italy right to the Canadian War Museum and the downtown ‘loop’.
For right now much of the land within the new boundaries will remain vacant.
According to Mellor it may be 15 to 20 years before the land in the new boundaries is developed but she says she sees this plan as good preparation for the future of the Preston Street community.
The 60-day period ends in June and if less than one third of the new businesses object the Preston Street BIA’s boundaries will become official.