Council expands downtown incentives
ZANESVILLE − Zanesville City Council recently passed ordinances expanding a pair of incentives aimed at making downtown Zanesville a more attractive place to do business.
For the purposes of legislation, downtown Zanesville is defined as the area south of the Interstate and east of the Muskingum River. It is bordered on the east by Underwood and Ninth streets as far south as Hughes Street, which is a block south of Marietta Street. It includes the canal area along the Muskingum River.
Most of downtown west of Seventh Street is covered by the DORA, the designated outdoor refreshment area, which allows visitors to purchase an adult beverage at a participating location and carry it through the downtown.
Council recently allowed for the expansion of the Community Reinvestment Area to include the entire downtown area as well as the area around the former Pioneer Elementary School and nearby city-owned property that includes the Pioneer Hill Reservoir.
Community Reinvestment Areas are areas of the city where property owners have the opportunity to apply for tax incentives for building new housing or commercial properties. If a property owner had a vacant lot and then built housing or a commercial building on the property, the CRA would allow them to continue to pay the tax rate for the unimproved property for 15 years. They can also be used to help encourage improvements of existing properties, with similar tax benefits.
The expansion of the CRA adds locations that can use a boost, like Marietta Street. "There is nothing on Marietta Street," said Matt Schley, the city's community development director. "It makes sense to set up the CRA where you can get the most bang for your buck."
The owners of the former Pioneer Elementary will be able to take advantage of the tax breaks when their planned conversion of the former school to apartments is completed, as would potential owners of the former reservoir location should the city sell the property once the reservoir is decommissioned.
Council also expanded the Downtown Revitalization District. Formerly covering an area bordered by Market Street to the North, South Street to the South, Seventh Street to the East and Beech Alley on the west, it now encompasses the entire downtown area.
The expansion of the district expands the area eligible for a class of liquor license called a D5L. They are vastly cheaper than a normal license sold on the open market. The current revitalization district has been in place for several years, and a few locations have taken advantage of it, Schley said, but it is underutilized. "The part of the reason it has not been taken advantage of is because there is no place to take advantage of it," he said, pointing out that much of the current district is occupied by government buildings, like the Muskingum County Courthouse.
The new district was requested by Tyler and Meagan Anderson, who hope to open a barbecue restaurant on Market Street, just outside the existing district.
Schley said because the law allows liquor permit holders to sell their permits on the open market, they have become a commodity, and the price of a permit can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The D5L permit costs $2,300. Schley said he expects four locations to have taken advantage of the program by the end of the year, including the Downtown Exchange. The original area allowed for seven permits, the expansion allows for a total of 13.
For more information about the various incentives, contact the City of Zanesville Community Development Department.
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This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Council expands downtown incentives
