Property owner wants release from downtown Rochester district as service charge increase is reviewed – Post Bulletin

ROCHESTER — A downtown property owner is asking to be released from Rochester’s Downtown Special Service District as an annual increase in related fees is nearing approval.

Rick Mattson of RJMJ Properties LLC asked the Rochester City Council earlier this month to remove his building at 620 First Ave. SW from the 44-block district.

“I object to the fact that neither the property nor its use will benefit from the proposed special service,” he wrote in an email to the city. “The business currently operating on property 620 is NAPA Auto Parts, which is primarily a wholesale distributor, i.e. delivering parts to professional auto repair shops, with a very small retail presence.”

The request was made as the council approved the district’s renewal for the next 10 years.

Following the renewal, council will be asked on Monday to approve a 4% increase in the service charge, increasing the total collected from property owners in the district from a combined total of $379,273 to $394,256, with individual assessments based on tax capacity of each property.

Contribution from the City of Rochester

Funds raised through the service fee represent approximately one-third of the Rochester Downtown Alliance’s annual budget, which helps the organization support various events and marketing efforts.

Mattson said his building, which is in the southern part of the district, does not benefit from RDA-supported activities.

“Of all the people we have downtown, we are one of the (businesses) that doesn’t benefit from it,” he told the City Council during an Oct. 7 public hearing.

Rochester Director of Strategic Initiatives Josh Johnsen, who serves as the city’s representative on the RDA board, said the board needs to take a long-term view when determining whether to remove a property from the district since uses can change. .

“There will be perpetual changes,” he said, pointing out that the area across the street from Mattson’s building will soon be home to a new apartment complex and Soldiers Field Memorial Park has undergone renovations.

“The downtown area where the site is located is undergoing transformation, especially with University of Minnesota campus planning set to drive development,” he added in a report to the board.

The district includes a mix of contributing and exempt locations, with all commercial and industrial properties being billed for services, including those housing vacant buildings and sites where buildings have been demolished. Multifamily residential properties are exempt.

Although the district map is updated annually to reflect changes in property designations, the renewal period is the only opportunity for a property owner to petition for removal from the district.

In 2015, during the district’s last renewal process, Paul Myhrom, owner of the former Honest Bike Shop and the building that housed the business at 44 Fourth St SE, successfully requested the removal of his property on Second Street Southeast from the district. It was approved with a 4-3 council vote.

Johnsen said Mattson’s order is different when compared to the 2015 decision. The Fourth Street address was along the district boundary and the dividing line was adjusted to exclude it.

The building Mattson wants removed from the district is north of a contributing building and is surrounded by other parts of the district, meaning removal would open a single hole in the defined district.

Mayor Kim Norton said she worries about what will happen in the future.

“If NAPA Auto Parts leaves tomorrow and someone else comes in who benefits from it, then we will give the business an exit,” she said.

During the October 7 meeting, councilors decided to postpone the decision on the request, taking advantage of the 30-day deadline to respond.

If the board decides to keep the property in the district, Mattson will have 30 days to file an appeal in district court.

Meanwhile, property owners remaining in the district, as well as others, will have the opportunity to comment on the proposed service charge increase during the council meeting at 6pm on Monday in the town halls of the city’s Government Center – county.

The proposed increase is the minimum authorized by district guidelines, which call for an annual increase ranging from 4% to 8%.

Meetings scheduled for the week of October 21 include:

Rochester

• Town Hall, Monday, 6 p.m., at the City-County Government Center Town Hall, 151 Fourth St. SE. The meeting will be streamed live at www.rochestermn.gov/meetings/council-meetings and will be available on Spectrum cable channel 180 or 188.

• Heritage Preservation Commission, Tuesday, at 5pm, at the Government Center City Hall.

• Citizen Advice on Traffic, Thursday, at 4:30 pm, in room 104 of City Hall.

Olmsted County

• Rochester-Olmsted Council of Governments, Wednesday at noon, in Conference Room A at 2122 Campus Drive SE in Rochester.

• Soil and Water Conservation District Board, Thursday at 8:10 a.m. in Conference Room A at 2122 Campus Drive SE.

Rochester Public Schools

• Special School Board session on field trip fees at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Edison Building meeting room, 615 Seventh St. SW.

• School Board, following Tuesday’s special session in the Edison Building meeting room.