A City Council member and the city of Jacksonville are seeking input from business operators along 103rd Street on whether they support a potential business improvement district.
Businesses can submit their approval or disapproval on a concept to charge fees to commercial property owners on 103rd Street in West Jacksonville to facilitate improvements to the neighborhood.
Council member Rahman Johnson proposed the concept, named the Wonderland Corridor. Johnson’s District 14 includes parts of the proposed BID.
Businesses can register support or opposition on the potential BID by answering a survey on the city’s website, at jacksonville.gov/wonderland. After submitting information about their businesses, owners can answer a yes/no question if they support the BID.
The survey is restricted to respondents with a business tax ID number.
In a text, Johnson said he expected results of the survey by July 1.
“Are you in for revitalizing the stretch we call home? Do you believe 103rd Street can be more than just a thoroughfare — it can be a destination?” reads the city’s website introducing the petition.
The survey does not stipulate what fees for the district would be. Johnson said on May 15 that if a majority of respondents said they would support the district in concept, then he would move forward with determining the governance structure of the BID.
Johnson previously sought City Council approval to mail surveys to business owners along 103rd Street, though that proposal was withdrawn after Council member Tyrona Clark-Murray, whose district is partially included in the BID borders, voiced opposition.
Clark-Murray said she didn’t feel the corridor needed the BID. Rather, she said, 103rd Street needed increased safety measures.
Johnson argued that distributing a petition with Clark-Murray’s district included would allow for residents to voice their opinions on the BID without binding Clark-Murray to contribute funds or include her district.
Johnson envisioned the Wonderland Corridor BID receiving an initial infusion of $750,000 from its three Council district representatives. In addition to a portion of Clark-Murray’s District 9, the BID includes parts of Council member Randy White’s District 12 and Johnson’s District 14. Johnson’s plan to mail petitions to 103rd Street businesses included 267 recipients.
The three representatives would provide the cash from their share of $1 million provided to each district Council member through the city’s community benefits agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The $300 million community benefits agreement complemented the $1.45 billion deal between the city and the Jaguars to renovate EverBank Stadium into the team’s “Stadium of the Future.”
Johnson’s efforts are similar to those of Council member Jimmy Peluso, who secured a BID for the Five Points neighborhood in Riverside. The Five Points BID is governed by a five-member board of supervisors, who have the ability to fund a manager for the BID, security, landscaping and promotion.
Johnson said he chose the Wonderland name as a companion to the Wonderwood area of Jacksonville, which is north of the Beaches near where the St. Johns River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
“If Wonderwood was the Atlantic whispering dreams into Jacksonville’s shoreline, Wonderland is the Westside whispering back — with pride, power, and a vision for prosperity,” Johnson wrote in a description of the name.