yet more Gazette coverage on the BID(w/a mention of PINAC)

Link here.
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Downtown trio files suit over Northampton BID
By JAMES F. LOWE
Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

NORTHAMPTON - Three downtown property owners are challenging in court the new downtown Business Improvement District, saying city officials didn't follow the law for creating such zones.

Alan Scheinman, David Pesuit and Eric Suher, under the names of several of his property holdings, filed the lawsuit against the city Monday in Hampshire Superior Court.

"We just think it's a bad idea," Scheinman, in an interview, said of the business district. The zone, in which participants pool money for various services, was approved in March by a vote of the City Council. Businesses have the opportunity to opt out of the district.

"I suppose it's a matter of opinion whether it's good or bad," Scheinman said. "But it's a matter of law whether it was done properly."

The plaintiffs allege that supporters of the BID and city officials who oversaw its creation failed to carefully inspect the signatures on a petition to create the district.

State law requires at least 60 percent of property owners, representing at least 51 percent of assessed value within the proposed zone, to sign off on the compact. City officials certified that the petition met those requirements, but Scheinman, Pesuit and Suher contend owners of multiple properties in the district were counted multiples times, when they should have been counted just once.

Dan Yacuzzo, chairman of the Downtown Steering Committee that spearheaded efforts to create the BID, declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday.

Scheinman, Pesuit and Suher have long made known their opposition to the BID. In a mailing to downtown property owners last June, Scheinman, Suher and Pesuit warned a BID would take power away from individual property owners.

Other opponents of the BID, including the activist group Poverty is Not a Crime, say the BID threatens to gentrify the downtown and stamp out panhandling, which they consider a form of free speech.

The BID is expected to include about 900 downtown parcels, including 18 city-owned plots, though several prominent businesses within the zone have already indicated they won't participate.

Property owners may opt out and avoid paying a 0.5 BID percent tax, but won't be eligible for district-sponsored services like marketing and maintenance.

James F. Lowe can be reached at jlowe@gazettenet.com.