BALTIMORE, Md. — It has been a fixture at its location along York Road since 1950, and for the last 46 years, Marty Bacon has personally helped keep up the area around Van Dyke & Bacon Shoes.
“What I really really want is, I want help. It’s a lot of work as a businessman to do all this work outside the store,” said Bacon, “My brother, John, and I, we make sure this whole area is clean every single day. Every day we’re out here cleaning up trash.”
A proposed bill, which drew public response at City Hall on Tuesday, would create a business improvement district along York Road, stretching from Northern Parkway south to 43rd Street to spruce up the stretch of storefronts like some other areas of the city.
“The Downtown Partnership, the Waterfront Partnership and others that provide similar services so part of the reason some of those areas remain cleaner than other areas is because they have that added additional help,” said City Councilman Mark Conway.
Under the proposed designation, workers would not only pick up trash along the sidewalks and the road, but trash cans like this one would be emptied six times per week.
The cost of tree trimming and pruning, public green space maintenance and bulk trash removal also would be picked up by an extra tax charged to businesses, on average, estimated at $1,000 per year.
Bacon says he’s alright with that, as long as he gets what he pays for.
“What businesses don’t want to happen is having a way to tax businesses in another way and to have the work not being done,” said the longtime business owner.
The bill’s sponsor says the tax would be reviewed every four years and would require business owners’ approval, much like the initial tax would.
A vote among the more than 200 owners covered by the measure is expected in November.
