Downtown Merchants to Receive Business Assessment Wednesday

Candace Braun

"If Princeton forms a special improvement district under the laws of the state of New Jersey, how will it help?"

Borough merchants and community organizations will have an answer to this question today when they meet with DBAT, a Downtown Business Advisory Team. The group will hold brief interviews with Borough staff, merchants, property owners, Princeton University, the Arts Council, the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, and other key community groups in the morning to assess what needs to be done to revitalize business in Princeton. Following the interviews, the team will tour the Borough by walking through the downtown business area and then meet together afterward for a work session.

At 2:30 p.m., DBAT will meet back with the Borough organizations to provide information on how a special improvement district (SID) could benefit the Borough, if at all. A formal written report from the DBAT team will follow in two month's time.

The cost for the assessment is $2,500, which will be paid for by members of the Community-Based Neighborhood Retail Initiative (CNBR), a subcommittee of Princeton Future, which supports the interests of independent businesses in town.

In the past Borough merchants have not been in favor of the idea of a special improvement district, or SID, because it would mean a tax on the downtown businesses to generate funds for marketing and beautifying the area. However, in an effort to further examine what the cost would be for a SID, merchants have agreed to allow the DBAT team to come in and examine the Borough.

"There's certainly a feeling in this town that the business district ... needs help," said Sheldon Sturges at a recent meeting of CNBR.

Mr. Sturges listed Red Bank, Summit, and Westfield as New Jersey municipalities where a DBAT has come in and offered recommendations in the past.

DBAT is a statewide organization concerned with the economic and cultural well being of New Jersey's commercial districts. At the request of a business district, a group of between three and five members of DBAT will come out and assess any problems the district feels it is experiencing. Members of the team include district leaders, developers, planners, and professionals in the field of commercial district revitalization.