A group of Cherry Creek North business owners who say they are frustrated with the leadership of the shopping district have banded together in an effort to guide the future of their neighborhood.
So far, 46 business owners have joined forces to form the Cherry Creek Independent Business Association.
Members have launched a website – www.cc-indies.org – and plan to use their numbers to pressure the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District to be more responsive to their requests.
“There’s not been a way to chronicle how business people in the area feel, what they want and what their goals are,” said Nelson Giesecke, owner of Object Design Studio. “It’s as if they’ve been mute. It’s sad.”
The formation of the group comes as business and property owners in Cherry Creek North prepare to vote on an $18.5 million bond issue intended to fund improvements in the district. It also comes shortly after Marc Schtul, chief executive of the Cherry Creek North BID, announced his resignation.
Christina Brickley, marketing director of the BID, said she welcomes any group focused on improving the district but said merchants already are represented by a volunteer board of their peers.
Organizers of the Cherry Creek Independent Business Association surveyed 18 percent of the district’s roughly 360 merchants. Ninety-one percent of those respondents said they were “concerned” to “very concerned” about the recent departure of independent businesses in the area. A majority also indicated that they did not think the BID represented or has been responsive to businesses in the area.
“The BID goes out of its way to promote meetings and the agendas,” but only a small group of people typically shows up to voice their opinions, said Dan Feldman, chairman of the BID board.
The Cherry Creek Independent Business Association is vocal in its opposition to the $18.5 million bond issue, which it says is too broad, but members maintain that their concerns go much deeper. They cite the recent closure of several independent businesses, a steady increase in the number of nationwide chain retailers and parking issues.
They also noted that sales-tax revenues in the area were down 7 percent through July.
“The good thing about the bond issue is that it has brought people together to talk to their neighbors and identify their concerns,” said Tina Gill, owner of the Artisan Center and a member of the independents.
Member Tam O’Neill, owner of Tam O’Neill Fine Arts, said the group is primarily concerned that the BID’s board has lost touch with its constituents and operates in a vacuum.
“It’s not a representative government,” she said.
Brickley, who will take over as interim chief executive of the BID when Schtul leaves at the end of the month, said the board plans to aim for more transparency in the coming months and will seek input from merchants as it seeks applicants for the chief executive position.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-954-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
