A proposal to create a business improvement district, or BID, along North Avenue in East Tosa brought nearly two dozen people to the Wauwatosa Plan Commission meeting on Sept. 8, with business owners and property owners divided over whether to move forward with the plan.
The East Tosa BID is supported by some of the prominent businesses on North Avenue, such as Tosa Yoga Center and the Little Village Play Cafe. Several of those business owners spoke at the Plan Commission's public hearing on the BID proposal, saying it would establish a sustainable model for growth and vitality in the district and allow businesses collectively to advocate for safety and physical improvements and to market North Avenue beyond the neighborhood.
"East Tosa is a modern day Main Street that has been waiting for its time to shine," Anna Jarecki, owner of Nourish Skin and Sugar Studio and one of the lead proponents of the BID, said in a presentation to the Plan Commission before the hearing. "I see the potential for what East Tosa can become. ... People are ready. People are in support of this."
A business improvement district would be governed by a board, similar to a nonprofit board, though it needs city approval because its funding would be facilitated by a new tax collected on commercial properties within the district. Advocates say property owners likely would share that financial burden with businesses and other tenants.
Some North Avenue property owners support the BID proposal, though several others questioned the need and value of a new tax.
"It raises the rents and actually drives the small businesses out," Diane Halloran, who lives on North Avenue and owns Wholistic Therapy, said at the public hearing. "I've been on the block for 25 years, so I have lived through a lot of organizations that have come up through North Avenue. ... I think a BID might not be the answer."
Proponents have tried once before to create an East Tosa BID, in 2014, but failed to rally enough support. For it to succeed this time, they again will need to clear two hurdles: obtaining city approval and winning the backing of property owners.
City approval is essentially a matter of political persuasion. On Sept. 8, the Plan Commission unanimously voted to recommend the proposal for approval by the Wauwatosa Common Council, which is scheduled to take it up on Sept. 30.
The path toward property owner approval is uncertain. Owners of properties with assessed values totaling at least 40% of the proposed business district have 30 days to file a petition contesting the BID.
Several property owners who oppose a BID conferred after the Plan Commission to begin the process of objecting to the proposal, including the Lutheran Home, which is the largest property in the proposed district.
"We simply cannot afford to do this," Carey Bartlett, the Lutheran Home's vice president of client relations, told the Plan Commission during the hearing.
Under the BID's proposed operating plan, the Lutheran Home would be one of 106 participating nonresidential properties that would be taxed at $150 per $100,000 in assessed value, up to a maximum of $5,000 each, to fund an annual BID budget of about $140,000, including a paid part-time director. It would not tax homeowners.
"The cost involved is too significant for the Lutheran Home's support," Bartlett said. She noted that the Lutheran Home provides a range of nursing home, memory care and rehab services for residents and clients who often are on fixed incomes through federal assistance. The Lutheran Home would not be able to pass additional costs on to those residents, and a business improvement district would not bring any additional revenue to the organization.
"The additional $5,000 would not work for us," Bartlett said, suggesting the Lutheran Home would consider pulling back on sponsorships in the neighborhood to offset the new tax.
City tax records show that the Lutheran Home paid $37,282 in property taxes and an additional $3,380 fire inspection charge for 2024 on its building and 8-acre lot at 7500 W. North Ave., which had an assessed value of $1.66 million.
Amanda Fuerst, a Plan Commission member who also serves on the Common Council, said she empathized with the Lutheran Home — "that kind of broke my heart," she said after listening to Bartlett testify at the public hearing.
Some commission members asked whether the Lutheran Home's property could be removed from the district plan, but others said doing so might set a bad precedent. They ultimately voted in favor of the BID proposal to include all nonresidential properties from 60th Street to Wauwatosa Avenue.
Wauwatosa has five city-designated business districts but currently only one of them is established formally as a business improvement district, the Village of Wauwatosa BID.
Despite the sharp divide in testimony at the public hearing on creating an East Tosa BID, a majority spoke in favor of the plan, including some residents from the surrounding neighborhoods.
"I do have an interest in seeing my immediate neighborhood improve," said Nancy Hall, who has lived in the 6200 block of West North Avenue for 19 years. As a member of the city's Commission for Persons With Disabilities, Hall appreciated that the East Tosa BID proposers have identified accessibility improvements on the street's sidewalks as an initial priority for advocacy.
Tammy Crouch, a Pabst Park resident for 28 years who has been active in its neighborhood association, said creating a BID with paid staff would be a major step forward. North Avenue has had a series of volunteer business associations and alliances in the past, but "I've seen all the volunteers burn out," Crouch said. "We need someone paid to advocate for East Tosa."
Others made similar points. Bobby Pantuso, a Tosa East Towne resident and owner of 4Jay Films, who is helping to promote the new BID plan, said the community is eager to create and harness new momentum on North Avenue.
"There's energy here, vibrancy that can be amplified and sustained" with a BID, Pantuso said.
Beth Gleesing, Wauwatosa's staff tourism specialist, testified to how greater business coordination would enhance the district in ways that would draw more customers and visitors. And Melanie Landgraf, owner of Tosa Yoga, said she hoped a BID would help businesses advocate for improved safety on North Avenue, including the busy intersection outside her business at North 68th Street.
But Erik Anderson, owner of Tosa Insurance Agency and the building at 7206 W. North Ave., suggested North Avenue already is thriving without a BID. He doesn't see value in a new tax on property owners there.
"I don't think the BID is needed," Anderson told the Plan Commission, adding that the proposal already has pitted some property owners against business owners. "This is going to bring some division to North Avenue."
The Plan Commission, before voting to recommend the proposal, was generally supportive.
Fuerst, as a resident on the west side of Wauwatosa, said she was "actually quite jealous of East Tosa" and thought it made sense for a part-time paid BID director to lead collaboration, advocacy and marketing for East Tosa's businesses.
And Joe Phillips, who like Fuerst serves on both the Plan Commission and Common Council, said businesses and volunteers deserve credit for making North Avenue an attractive place to visit. "It wasn't long ago that East Tosa was in a much different position and shape," Phillips said. "I think the BID is the next natural step in their hard work."
Kevin Ausman, a Wauwatosa Plan Commission member who works as assistant village manger for Fox Point, said he has experience working with other BIDs and has seen the value they can bring to participating businesses, properties and neighborhoods.
Ausman also emphasized that a BID tax is not like other property taxes. It is only levied on commercial properties in the district, and it also directly benefits those district stakeholders.
"The concept of a BID as a separate taxing authority — the money stays in that area," Ausman said.
On Sept. 9, the organizers of the BID plan posted to social media that the Plan Commission was a "big win for East Tosa," with a Common Council vote up next.
"We had amazing support from local business + property owners, showing how ready our corridor is to invest in North Avenue’s future," the group posted. "While a few opposed, the overwhelming message was clear: East Tosa is ready for a BID."
- Editor's note: This story was reported and written by David Paulsen, who as a board member of the Tosa East Towne Neighborhood Association has organized the annual Run Tosa Run, which receives sponsorship money from the Lutheran Home. That relationship has not influenced his coverage of this issue, and he receives no personal benefit from any of the people or entities involved in the East Tosa BID debate.
