MAIN STREET BOARD GIVES UPDATE TO DOWNTOWN PROPERTY/BUSINESS OWNERS
Downtown Brenham property and business owners met for an informational update gathering hosted by the Brenham Main Street Board this evening (Tuesday). Each member of the Board gave an update on the progress and plans each committee has for the revitalization of downtown Brenham.
One primary goal of the board is to direct traffic to downtown, whether that be pedestrians or vehicles. The plan is to have people drive slowly, look around, stop, walk, shop, and eat. Negotiations are currently being made with TxDOT about signage for the city. Signs would include large signs on the highway, smaller banner signs that coordinate with the lamp posts, parking signs, and directional maps. Bids for final design and manufacturing of those signs are scheduled to go out by June 30th.
With downtown Brenham growing as a community, there is talk of placing a hotel downtown which is lined out in the master plan. The board is also working on downtown connectivity with the addition of sidewalks and parking spaces where there are currently none.
A solution to fund the growth was also discussed during the gathering this evening (Tuesday). A Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) seems to be a possible solution. This would allow property valuations in a designated area to become “frozen” for the city and county. As future development increases the value of the property in the TIRZ area, the tax money from the increased value above the "frozen" value would be used for designated improvements in the zoned district.
Downtown events plan to continue as always including the community-oriented events such as the Christmas Stroll and Hot Nights Cool Tunes, and Business/Sales/Fundraising events such as Uptown Swirl, Brew Step, and Gingerbread House Auction.
Main Street plans to align all their projects with the master plan which can be found on the city of Brenham website: www.CityOfBrenham.org.