Elgin Street businesses revisit plans for BIA

By Noah Richardson

Recent closures of several mainstay businesses on the busy Elgin Street commercial strip have renewed calls for the establishment of a Business Improvement Area (BIA).

Boushey’s Fruit Market, Fresco Bistro Italiano and Maxwell’s have all shut their doors in recent months, leaving some local business owners feeling uneasy.

Other mercantile hubs in the city, including Bank Street, Chinatown, Sparks Street, Preston Street, Byward Market and the Glebe, have well-established committees that lobby to improve the competitiveness of their respective commercial zones. There are currently 18 BIAs in Ottawa.

Keith Loiselle, the manager of Woody’s Urban Pub, said since it’s without a BIA, Elgin doesn’t get as much attention from the city as other business districts.

“I do think that we’re missing out,” he said. “The city’s instructions, you know, are to work with the BIAs. So, we fall through the cracks of being able to participate in any co-ordinated manner.”

He said other areas in the city that have BIAs are regularly maintained, “from utility modifications, to lighting for safety, to beautification.”

He added: “I have several businesses… I don’t have time to watch out for the moving parts that are so heavy in this city. With a high red-tape city like this, having someone watching out for you is very reassuring.”

This isn’t the first time business owners on Elgin have discussed the need for a BIA.

Jim Sherman is the owner of Perfect Books, which has operated on the Elgin strip for more than 20 years. He took over the store about eight years ago and was part of a group of business owners that attempted to form a BIA in 2012.

“It first came about when news of the LRT started to surface and we became the only district without a BIA. People banded together and lobbied . . . and then quite a number of people were ready to sign on. But the way that a BIA gets financed, is if you don’t have everyone on board, then it gets pretty expensive,” Sherman said.

Sherman added getting such a diverse group of businesses on board has proven difficult in the past.

“There’s just not unanimity of the way we do business,” he said. “So, I think that’s one of the things that stood in the way of it coming together.”

Sherman noted he’s working on forming a smaller association of like-minded businesses since he believes it’s unlikely a BIA will come to fruition any time soon.

“I’ve been actively talking with a few fellow shops around to at least band together and do some co-operative advertising and to identify ourselves as a destination,” he said.

Shane Chisholm, the manager of The Ministry of Coffee, said he would support a BIA, but hasn’t been in contact with any other storeowners.

“A BIA for the Elgin area would be a welcome development and could help increase promotion and drive more guests through our doors,” Chisholm said in an email.

Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney is another proponent of an Elgin Street BIA.

“I always support BIAs,” she said. “I actually sit on five of them and see the benefit of BIAs. Elgin Street to date has never formed a BIA . . . for various reasons through the years, but I would certainly support it if the businesses came together and met the requirements.”

McKenney said while she hasn’t yet heard from any business owners directly on the subject, she thinks a BIA could be in the cards for Elgin’s future.

“Our role as a city is to work with businesses,” she said. “Obviously a BIA is always helpful because they work to encourage business . . . to enhance the street, to bring people to the street.”