What’s happening?

At our Annual General Meeting January 9, 2020, the Board of  Wellington West Business Improvement Area will be asking members to vote on a proposal to ask the City of Ottawa for permission to consider an expansion to the current boundaries of the BIA.

If approved by BIA members and the City, this would kick off a 12 month process of notification, consultation, and an official opportunity for any business or commercial property owner to formally object if they so desire. If all goes well, we would begin to serve our new members in January 2021.

Special Information Meeting:
WWBIA Boundary Expansion 

Thursday, November 28, 2019
Hintonburg Community Centre
7:00 p.m. 

Since our founding in 2008, the Wellington West Business Improvement Area has been building a different kind of commercial district. We’ve been intensely focused on three things: 1) serving, supporting, and equipping our 550+ businesses and 200+ property owner members for business success; 2) creating a warm, safe, and professionally maintained commercial district for our members, neighbours, and community partners; and 3) cultivating a diverse and exciting “community of communities” to maximize the benefits of local ownership, mutual cooperation, and civic engagement.

In preparation for the coming of the Light Rail to our area in Fall 2019, from May to November 2019, the Wellington West Business Improvement Area has carried out this research study to explore the viability, benefits, and business dynamics involved with a possible expansion of our current boundaries toward the three LRT stations that will serve our area by 2022.

And now we would like to welcome new members

As a result of this study, the BIA is proposing an expansion to its existing boundaries, to include businesses within the three areas adjacent to the existing BIA (See Map below).

• Area 1: Gladstone Station – along Gladstone Avenue West of the O-Train Line 2.
• Area 2: Tunney’s Station – South side of Scott Street near Holland Avenue, including Holland Cross.
• Area 3: Bayview Station – South side of Scott between Pinehurst and O-Train 

Figure 1: Boundaries of WWBIA – showing existing area in red and orange, with proposed new expansion areas in blue.

We believe we have much to offer businesses in these three areas, and since none are likely to be included in any other existing BIA, we are uniquely positioned to represent and assist them into an integrated BIA.

And for all members – existing and new – while the proposed boundary expansion would only add a total of 19 properties, with around 45 businesses, to the BIA, this would represent a 33% increase to the assessed value of our area, which is critical to expanding our pool of resources while allowing us to ensure that our levies per member remain affordable – we currently have the lowest average levy per member of any urban BIA in Ottawa.

How will it work?

In January 2020, we will be asking our existing members to approve this plan at our Annual General Meeting.  This will followed by a letter to City Council, then a public feedback period where our members and prospective new members will be given an opportunity to object if they so desire, hopefully leading to Council approval before fall 2020, allowing us to welcome new members on January 1 2021.

In addition to the critical LRT station connections, the expanded boundaries will allow us to represent all the commercial properties in Hintonburg and Wellington Village the BIA’s primary trade area while supporting the BIA’s Vision to build upon our “community of diverse communities”. Finally, the addition of new members within a single BIA would allow us to expand the range of services and support to all members – old and new – while doing it more cost-effectively.