Effort to establish downtown Rochester BID fizzles after public outcry

One week after city residents flooded a speak-to-city council session with their fears of a potential Business Improvement District, the effort to establish a BID in downtown Rochester is dead.

A statement released by city council president Miguel Melendez said it also marks "a new beginning for the future of our City’s Centre."

The BID was an effort by the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation and the Partnership for Downtown Rochester to revitalize downtown's core by levying a special tax to property owners within the proposed district in exchange for special services that would make downtown more attractive to businesses, developers, and consumers.

City Council President Melendez served as a board member of the RDDC alongside Rochester Mayor Malik Evans.

"As a board member of the Partnership for Downtown Rochester, I would like to first acknowledge all of the community engagement efforts and divergent opinions offered in the Business Improvement District efforts, and thank the team at RDDC for capturing valuable input that will be useful as we make decisions in the future," Melendez said in his statement. "Clearly, there are many Downtown residents, small business owners, artists, and members of the broader Rochester community who strongly believe in the vitality and promise of a strong Downtown."

Joe Stefko, president of ROC2025 and chair of the Partnership for Downtown Rochester, said BID provided a "runway for more investment" at a city hall press conference announcing the BID draft plan.

America has history with BIDs

There are 1,200 BIDs spread throughout North America, from Hampton, Virginia, to Times Square in New York City.

Opponents of the potential BID argued that its implementation would harm small businesses and renters in the proposed districts — fearing that property owners would pass along the added tax in the form of higher rent. They called the effort a 21st-century form of redlining.

Kelly Cheatle, one of the prominent voices in the anti-BID movement, told city council last week that they needed to "listen to the people of Rochester, not the gentrifiers pushing the mayor's agenda."

The BID Education Committee released a statement shortly after the announcement that credited sustained community pushback for the decision.

"Over the last two years an increasing number of people recognized that RDDC’s BID is anti-democratic, unjust, and would further increase inequality in our community," the statement read. "We are proud of the work done by dozens of unpaid organizers and hundreds of volunteers over the last two years to educate and engage our neighbors. We thank our coalition for their steadfast and expanding support for a more just and more equitable future for our city. We are stronger for this struggle."

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People on both sides of the debate believed that downtown Rochester needs some sort of revitalization, and the question now will be what will that look like.

"That’s why it’s crucial that we now come together as a community to determine a new direction — one that creates secure jobs, supports a strong school system, and promotes safety in our streets all while engaging and working with all the stakeholders who either call downtown home or engage in their livelihoods there," Melendez said.

"I’m challenging Downtown residents, the Downtown arts community, business owners, community leaders, and the City Administration to meet us at the table with ideas, plans, and dreams for a Downtown that fights for equity, offers opportunity to those who need it and creates a framework that will allow the center of the Flower City to blossom for everyone."

— Robert Bell is a multimedia journalist and reporter at The Democrat & Chronicle. He was born in Rochester, grew up in Philadelphia and studied film in Los Angeles. Follow him at @byrobbell on X and @byrobbell on IG. Contact him at rlbell@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Effort to establish Rochester BID fizzles after public outcry