Downtown BID Seeks to Expand Jurisdiction

The Downtown Business Improvement District would like to have the section of the district that was cordoned off to become River Landing back under its umbrella. A report from City Administration was presented to the Governance and Priorities Committee on Tuesday.

Back in 2008, Saskatoon City Council voted to adjust the boundaries of the Downtown and Riversdale Improvement Districts to create a separate River Landing area that had its own governance model, but in 2019, the Downtown BID asked to have the eastern portion of River Landing brought back to the BID.

Executive Director Brent Penner says right now there is a division of services, depending on what side of the street you are on. He gives the example of their Community Support Program, which isn’t available for the hotels, offices, the Remai Modern or Persephone Theatre in the River Landing area, and he says, there have been requests from there.

Penner spoke to the Committee in the fall of 2019, and at that time, Administration was told to report back on reincorporating the former boundaries of the Downtown BID and doing the same for the western portion of River Landing back into the Riversdale BID. The report was received as information.