Wheeling City Council Mulls License Fee Exemption for Some Downtown Businesses

WHEELING -- Ongoing construction in downtown Wheeling is affecting a number of local businesses, and city officials hope to help soften the blow by offering a one-time business license fee exemption.

Downtown water and sewer improvements ahead of the state of West Virginia's upcoming Downtown Streetscape Project have left many parts of Main and Market streets in a seemingly endless construction zone, and work is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. This has resulted in parking issues and other challenges for several downtown businesses.

On Monday, water service was disconnected for businesses along Main Street as crews continued work to install a temporary waterline that will be in use until the new, permanent water line is in service.

Members of Wheeling City Council are moving forward with a resolution to provide the one-time business license fee exemption for certain downtown businesses that have been negatively affected by the construction.

Many of the local businesses, such as restaurants and small retailers, are still in the throes of trying to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a resolution on today's city council agenda, the exemption is designed to be for businesses located in the parameters of Main and Market streets downtown between Ninth and 16th streets, as well as the cross streets of 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 16th streets.

These locations "have experienced and continued to experience inconveniences associated with the ongoing Streetscape project road and utility construction," the resolution states.

This one-time business license fee exemption is only valid from the date of adoption of the resolution and is not retroactive. The resolution is designed to expire on June 30, 2023.

Businesses taking advantage of this exemption must continue to file regular necessary applications and licensing documents, and must remain current on all city taxes and other pertinent fees. The business license fee suspension does not constitute a suspension of any other city taxes or fees, according to the resolution.

All rules and regulations of the fee suspensions will be overseen by the office of Wheeling Finance Director Seth McIntyre.

The Vagabond Kitchen restaurant on the corner of 12th and Market streets has been in the heart of the construction zone, where parking for customers has been challenging. In June, the restaurant was unable to open because of a temporary loss of water service due to the construction.

Vagabond Kitchen Chef Matt Welsch on Monday said he has been in communication with city officials and is pleased to see action taken to help local businesses while everyone continues to exercise patience as the downtown area undergoes major infrastructure upgrades.

"I spoke with Vice Mayor Chad Thalman a couple of weeks ago and suggested they do this," Welsch said on Monday regarding the business license fee exemption. "I'm glad it's moving forward."

According to the business fee schedule listed on the city's website, the amount of the annual fees owed depend on the type of business that is operating, with the fee for West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration's "private club" listing as much as $1,250.

"We're working on the downtown waterline replacement, and that's caused considerable disruption, especially for some downtown businesses," Mayor Glenn Elliott noted last month as city officials began looking at ways to help those affected by the ongoing activity. "Some folks feel that they've lost some retail activity because of that construction, so we're doing whatever we can to help minimize that going forward."

The mayor noted last week during his State of the City address that he, too, was vexed with the condition of the downtown streets as infrastructure work continues and word on the official start date for the state's end of the $25 million Downtown Streetscape Project is still unknown.

"I'm frustrated that this project has not yet commenced," he said. "State engineers working on this project have encountered numerous obstacles in the past few years as they finalize design plans."

The mayor said a silver lining that has come about in the wake of the delays to the overall Streetscape project in recent years is that it has greatly expanded in scope since first being conceptualized. The project -- along with the city's contributions to underground infrastructure improvements and the state's future work above ground -- is now expected to top $35 million.

"When complete, it will represent the first total facelift of our downtown streetscape since 1980," Elliott said, noting that the infrastructure upgrades being done now will help support future economic growth downtown for years to come.