‘Onus is too high on a business owner’: Hyde Park BIA backs away from expansion proposal

CTV London’s Gerry Dewan looks into why the Hyde Park BIA no longer wants to expand their boundaries.

The Hyde Park Business Improvement Area (BIA) is backing away from a plan to expand its boundaries, after city council support wavered.

The BIA spent two years trying to get the concept to work but are now going back to the drawing board.

In the fall of 2024, the BIA proposed an expansion that was seen by many as an innovative way to help support more businesses.

They wanted to create nodes in adjacent neighbourhoods that would fall under a broader BIA umbrella.

“Creating one BIA where each node would live through the BIA, and each node would have its own branding. Thus promoting, the businesses and retail footprint within those areas,” said Donna Szpakowski, the association’s general manager.

Szpakowski said idea was designed to allow neighbourhoods maintain their own identities while benefiting from BIA expertise, “Promotions, events, beautification, support, advocacy.”

But a letter on the Planning and Environment Committee agenda for Wednesday’s meeting formally withdraws the BIA’s proposal. The organization cited “financial and political pressures.”

Szpakowski says under the Municipal Act, if one-third of businesses oppose a new or expanded BIA, then that process can’t go ahead. She said in this case, it was clear councillors weren’t satisfied with that benchmark and were looking for a strong endorsement of the proposal.

Ward 7 Councillor Corrine Rahman initially said she was encouraged by the plan. Her Ward includes Hyde Park, and she sits on the BIA. But she felt it wasn’t clear that many businesses in the expanded area understood what was being asked of them. She also noted that businesses would be committed to pay a levy if the proposal was approved.

“I think in order for us to have a fair process, we need to ensure that we hear from the business community, and it shouldn’t be by default that the recommendation comes forward and it should be because people are championing it and because they want to be part of the BIA,” Rahman told CTV News.

Szpakowski said the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association (OBIAA) is lobbying the province for changes to the municipal act to make the process more transparent.

Rahman believes council would also support a change.

“Participating in the process really means that you mail back a piece of paper to say you objected to going forward. And I think that onus is too high on a business owner,” she said.

Szpakoski said the BIA is committed to reviving the node concept in the future and is confident businesses will be supportive.