Politics & Government
Town Council Hosts Public Hearing on Proposed Arts and Cultural District
In a March 8 public hearing, local residents can weigh in on the proposed Arts and Cultural District for historic downtown Leesburg.
This article has been corrected from a previous version. The corrected text appears in italics.
Today at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, local residents can speak their mind on the proposed Arts and Cultural District in historic downtown Leesburg.
The district would cover the area between Catoctin Circle, South King Street, and Edwards Ferry Road. Funding given to the district would go to the development of new arts related businesses in the designated area.
In their Monday work session, representatives from the Leesburg Economic Development Commission and the Public Art Commission presented their updated plan for the district, which includes incentives such as tax rebates and zoning permit exceptions. Originally, businesses would have received five years of incentives declining by 20 percent. Now businesses may receive 10 years of incentives declining by 10 percent.
The updated plan also closed a loophole that would have allowed businesses to change their name and possibly receive another 10 years of incentives.
Council member Katie Sheldon-Hammler said based on independent research on providing rent subsidies to Art Square could cost the town $360,000. She added rent subsidies might not have enough beneficial impact to justify this cost.
Council member David Butler challenged the inclusion of movie theaters on the list of types of businesses that are eligible for funding. The list also includes art galleries, art schools, and studios and performance venues for music and dance.
“Movie theaters don’t strike me as the kind of places this is focused on,” Butler said.
Though commission members had wanted artsy and indie movie theaters to be included, Butler recommended that movie theaters be struck from the list because the wording was not specific enough to bar bigger box theaters.
Those behind the Arts and Cultural District hope to make it into a marketing center for the town.
“We’ve tried a lot of tools in economic development, and I hope that this isn’t one that ends up on the shelf,” council member Tom Dunn said, using a personal example of a tool box full of great tools that he never used.
“You know how much use those tools were to me? None,” Dunn said, stressing that even a great idea could potentially waste time and money. “At some point the EDC has to go from status quo to the marketing arm of Leesburg,” he added.
