EVERETT — The city pulled back its plan to introduce a special assessment tax to fund improvements in the area around Everett Station in part after property owners challenged data suggesting the majority of owners favor the idea.
A group of property owners did their own survey with a larger number of responses gathered than the city’s, and tallied that more than 80 percent oppose the idea.
The City Council planned to vote on establishing this Everett Station business improvement area (BIA) at its meeting today. Over the weekend, a stack of opposition letters arrived.
City officials had said more than 60 percent were in favor when presenting their findings to the City Council in December.
The pause is to have city staff back to hear more from property owners’ concerns.
Two of the business improvement area’s goals are to make functional improvements in this district, and to attract events in this area east of downtown. (Last year’s Fisherman’s Village Music Festival, for example, happened within the district.)
City Council President Judy Tuohy removed the vote from the council’s agenda before the meeting began.
While the council approved establishing the business improvement area at its Dec. 11 meeting, a technicality involving boundary changes required a second vote and new public hearing to formally establish it.
The assessments were scheduled to begin Feb. 6 if the council voted to form the BIA at last week's meeting.
