Metro Approves Central Business Improvement District Expansion

The Metro Council approved the merger and expansion of downtown Nashville’s Central Business Improvement District on Tuesday after hefty discussion among the body's members, a host of public comments and the incorporation of several amendments to implement further council oversight. 

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The ordinance combines the Central Business Improvement District with the Gulch Business Improvement District, implementing an additional tax levy on the area’s property owners along with an additional fee of 0.25 percent on certain retail transactions. The extra funds will go toward additional services for the area, including street cleaning, landscaping, district programs and safety patrols — all managed by Nashville Downtown Partnership. 

District 19 Councilmember Jacob Kupin sponsored the ordinance to expand the coverage territory of the district, contending that doing so will generate an estimated $8 million in tax revenue. 

Much of the support for the expansion during the meeting came from an array of local business leaders, downtown hotel owners and developers who advocated for the cleanliness, safety efforts and tax revenue gain expected from the expansion.

A separate group of Nashvillians opposed the matter and expressed a distrust in NDP and its approach to homelessness in the area. 

“We as a community have to find a path forward that works, because poor people are not going to just disappear, and we can’t arrest our way out of that,” said Steve Reiter, an opponent of the CBID, referencing the potential impact on unhoused people in the area. 

The tension arises from the arrest of 10 unhoused people last year by Tennessee Highway Patrol officers connected with NDP. Opponents also noted the partnership’s response to last month’s downtown parking garage fire and worries over the current CBID’s failure to meet budget reporting requirements. 

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NDP outreach worker Isaiah Henderson backed the CBID proposal, and said he used to be homeless before receiving help from NDP. 

“There’s a narrative that we’re doing the wrong thing, and that’s just not true,” Henderson said. “The truth is, you don’t see people doing what we do. You don’t see this kind of outreach, compassion and consistency. This work matters. It’s hard. It’s human, and it’s necessary.” 

The council additionally heard support from executives with Gulch master developer MarketStreet Enterprises, local development company Giarratana and residents and business owners of the Gulch. 

Kupin acknowledged the community concerns, but said he has received ample support from his district.

“It’s not perfect,” he said. “There are things that are good. There are things that are not as good. But everybody that I have spoken to, everybody that I have heard from, everybody that got notices and postcards and mailers are all in support of this.” 

Metro approved amendments to the ordinance to require members of the district management corporation to be subject to confirmation by the council, clarify budget reporting requirements, mandate documentation and reporting of interactions with unhoused people in the area and create a way for the public to submit complaints related to the CBID.

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Councilmember At-Large and Budget and Finance Chair Delishia Porterfield made an unsuccessful attempt to have Kupin withdraw the proposal or defer the matter for a year to allow the council to educate itself on BIDs and have the opportunity to see an official budget proposal for the district. 

The CBID ordinance passed 29-6, with one abstention. 

In other business, the council passed a one-meeting deferral for a rezoning ordinance for an Antioch warehouse — another highly debated proposal — that has stirred protest. Some residents of the neighborhood worry the construction would harm wildlife, increase traffic congestion and destroy woodlands, which could result in increased air and noise pollution from a nearby quarry.

This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.