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WHEELING - Members of Wheeling City Council are scheduled to gather for their last regular meeting of 2023 on Tuesday night, when officials are expected to take action on legislation geared toward helping numerous downtown businesses.
The meeting is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m Tuesday in city council chambers at the City-County Building on Chapline Street.
Although there is only one new piece of legislation listed on Tuesday’s agenda, it is one that promises to be impactful for downtown businesses struggling in the face of the ongoing Downtown Streetscape Project - a $32 million facelift that has created a sprawling construction zone that has engulfed the heart of Wheeling.
An ordinance is being introduced Tuesday to create a short-term relief program to provide small retail businesses in the impacted area with Business & Occupation Tax credits and lost revenue relief.
The long-awaited Downtown Streetscape Project is led by the West Virginia Department of Transportation, but it has been championed by officials in the city of Wheeling since the beginning stages of its planning. The project is expected to continue for the next 18 months or so, and once it is completed, it will leave new curbs and sidewalks, freshly paved streets, new crosswalks, updated traffic signals, fresh trees and bioswales, new stormwater management systems and other features for a comprehensive downtown facelift.
With the major construction project in full swing by the WVDOT’s general contractor, Triton Construction of St. Albans, much of downtown Wheeling has been restricted to one lane of traffic. Parts of Market Street have been completely closed because of the construction, and sidewalks throughout Main Street and part of Market Street have been ripped out.
Through the labyrinth of orange barrels, detours and flurry of activity, patrons to downtown businesses have found it more difficult to find parking or access businesses in the affected area. Many business owners have voiced frustrations about the lack of communication about the impacts of the construction, and concerns about the project having a negative impact on commerce prompted a meeting by the Development Committee of Wheeling City Council. The committee recommended that council approve a proposal presented by City Manager Robert Herron.
Although the Streetscape renovation is a state project, the city is moving forward with its proposed program titled Downtown Streetscape Project to Provide Small Retail Business B&O Tax Credits and Monetary Relief for Lost Revenue of Small Retail Business.
A total of 21 downtown businesses are expected to be eligible for the program. Small retail businesses must be located in the impacted area between Main and Market streets (which are part of W.Va. Route 2) from 10th Street to 16th street, including the connecting cross streets. Eligible businesses must take in less than $1 million in annual sales.
Businesses can apply for up to $10,000 in lost revenue relief. City leaders will use the higher of each business’s reported revenues for non-COVID years of 2019 or 2022 for comparison. The program allows for other determining means of estimated revenue loss if any business is newer and does not have reported revenues from the previous years as a reference.
The program will also allow eligible businesses to apply for 50%55 credit against B&O Tax normally due for applicable time periods during the construction. The period will be retroactive to July of this year and will include fiscal quarters through the projected end of the Streetscape project in July 2025.
Prior to the beginning of the regular city council meeting Tuesday night, the Finance Committee of Council is slated to meet to review the city’s November financial statement and to discuss how the new Streetscape relief program can be funded. Up to $300,000 is expected to be needed for the program.
The Finance Committee meeting will begin at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.