The Five Points area will receive funding for additional security, landscaping and beautification after an ordinance proposing a Business Improvement District (BID) was approved by Jacksonville City Council at its Oct. 28 meeting.
The original BID, 2025-0539, would have placed a special tax assessment on 95 properties in the Five Points area starting in 2026, but an amendment to the ordinance carved out 11 properties that didn’t want to be included. The property owners replied “No” to the surveys sent out by District 7 City Councilman Jimmy Peluso’s office. The boundaries of the district include Copeland Street, Post Street and Riverside Avenue. It is the second BID in the city; the first being Downtown Vision, Inc., which was created to aid Jacksonville’s downtown area.
“The business owners have been asking for it. This is something that we have been working on for two years,” said Peluso to the full council. “I haven’t heard one person show up, in the four months that we have this bill sitting around, say no to this.”
There was an attempt by the Council’s Finance Committee to add language to the ordinance that would allow members of the BID to opt out or in of the district annually, but Peluso’s floor amendment removed that language due to legal issues.
“We have learned that opting out is not going to be available to us as a legal recourse,” said Peluso. “So, I am offering this amendment. It does everything the Finance Committee has asked for, but it has removed the opt out.”
Under the approved legislation, property owners who don’t want to be in the district will need to petition the district councilmember, who will decide whether or not to draft legislation to remove the member from the district and that legislation will be voted on by the full City Council.
Throughout deliberations of the BID ordinance, Peluso has pledged that he would use $150,000 of his district’s Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) funds to get the BID started and prevent any property from being billed in the first year, so property owners could find out if it was the best way to add value to the area.
The next step for the BID will be to create a board of “supervisors.” Peluso’s floor amendment also included the Finance Committee’s request to have that board made up of members selected by both the City Council and Mayor’s Office. The approved ordinance will have three voting members and two alternates selected by the Council and two voting members and one alternate by the Mayor’s Office.
Once the board is created, its first duty will be to set the assessment rate.
Finance Committee Offered Compromise
Prior to the council’s Oct. 28 meeting, the Finance Committee presented an amendment to ordinance 2025-0539 that removed the properties of those who do not want to be a part of the BID, allowing for property owners to opt in or out annually and slightly changing the structure of the BID governing body.
Discussions surrounding the opt-out option occurred at the Oct. 21 Finance committee meeting. Councilmembers Rory Diamond and Ron Salem, members of the committee, were not comfortable with the level of approval from property owners within the proposed boundaries of the BID.
“If a group wants to tax themselves, I’m okay with that,” said Salem. “But I want to make sure that there is 85 to 95% support of this. Until I see that, I won’t be supporting it.”
Peluso’s office surveyed 95 property owners in the proposed BID and discovered that 84 were in favor and 11 were opposed to the special district. No response to the survey was considered supporting the ordinance.
“My office has been working heavily with the (Five Points) Merchants Association and the Five Points businesses, and (Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office) has been right there with us,” Peluso continued. “One of things that JSO and the City of Jacksonville have had to say to people is that we can’t just be in Five Points. We have a lot of other concerns and neighborhoods that need to be responded to.”
Some business owners don’t see the value that the BID would provide.
“Some of what is being discussed should be shouldered by business owners. We have personally invested a lot of money in landscaping and lighting, and security, when needed,” said Michelle Barnett, partner with the Alexandar, DeGance and Barnett. “I’m concerned, because the way it has been explained to me, a professional law firm like ours that operates Monday through Friday is potentially paying for service on nights and weekends that we won’t directly benefit from.”
Grant Helps Beautification Efforts in Five Points
Furthering its beautification efforts for the community, the Five Points Association received a $50,000 grant from the City of Jacksonville for its Five Points Clean and Revitalize Program.
The program was identified as one of Peluso’s strategic initiatives for the district and was granted in June. The funds will be used for cleaning and litter removal, blight reduction, safety, and outreach.
“We were able to get a crew in here and pressure-wash the sidewalks with the use of those funds,” said Thomsen. “It looks, feels and smells better with the sidewalks washed.”
