In the days before a man was shot and killed outside a cluster of Highland Square bars over the weekend, City of Akron officials and neighborhood business owners met to discuss a plan for businesses to fund security and other services beyond what the city can provide with tax dollars alone.
The plan — if enough business owners agree and Akron City Council approves it — would create the second Special Improvement District in the city, alongside the much larger downtown district managed by the Downtown Akron Partnership since 2000.
Mayor Shammas Malik, Akron Deputy Director of Economic Development Sean Vollman, and Ward 1 City Council Member Samuel DeShazior publicly revealed the plan on Wednesday evening during a monthly Ward 1 meeting at the Highland Square library branch. Neighborhood residents, on edge in the aftermath of the unsolved homicide across the street and amid several years of previous problems in the area on weekend nights, packed the library’s conference room.
“We’ve been talking about this for a while,” DeShazior told the crowd of the proposal for what is known as a Special Improvement District (SID), likely covering a quarter-mile, mostly commercial stretch of West Market Street in Highland Square. City and business owners met on Monday, Sept. 29. “… Unfortunately, even before the implementation,” DeShazior said, “we had another incident.”
Tim Hutchinson, 25, a recent graduate of the University of Akron, was killed in a crossfire of bullets at 12:25 a.m. Sunday, not long after at least two bar owners called Akron police to warn of a potentially volatile gathering outside on West Market Street.
Akron Police struggling to reach minimum officer staffing levels on Saturdays
Akron Police Chief Brian Harding explained on Wednesday that even with overtime pay, the department traditionally has difficulty reaching minimum officer staffing late on Saturday nights. This past Saturday night, many of the officers on duty in the city were drawn to a Wallhaven neighborhood murder-suicide that was reported six minutes before the gunfire erupted in Highland Square — a fourth Akron killing occurred at 3:45 a.m., when a man was stabbed in North Hill.
Malik said the weekend nightlife in Highland Square “may require additional resources beyond what any other neighborhood might require” and that’s why he’s been in favor of a Highland Square Special Improvement District, even before the Saturday night killing.
Malik hopes the Highland Square SID can be up and running by the spring with funding from the city. That would be reimbursed after the organization, set up as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, starts collecting money from business owners, likely no sooner than 2027. Many of the details still need to be figured out, such as the exact boundaries of the district, what each business would pay and what the money would fund.
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In the meantime, and in response to the recent killing, Malik told the crowd on Wednesday night that the city is going to make its “best effort” to increase police foot and car traffic on Saturday nights in Highland Square for the “foreseeable future.” He said the city could also try other tactics, like potentially blocking off street parking spots in front of the bars “so people aren’t partying in their cars and playing music.”
SID would require a percentage of business owners to agree
For the Highland Square SID — if enough business owners in that stretch agree, and Akron City Council signs off — the Special Improvement District designation would create a committee and board to determine how much each business would pay and how that money would be spent. Malik floated the idea that the SID could pay for things such as additional off-duty officers and private security on weekend nights, sanitation workers and other measures perceived to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood.
Abraham Nabors, whose family owns Mustard Seed Market & Cafe, told the crowd on Wednesday night he has agreed to be part of a steering committee for the SID and that he was encouraged by the meeting last week with city officials. Vollman, who will also be on the steering committee, said that 60% of the business owners in the district, or business owners representing 75% of the total assessed property value of businesses in the district, would need to agree to be in it.
The proposed boundaries of the Special Improvement District include bars like Mr. Zub’s, Ray’s Pub, Highland Tavern, Barmacy Bar & Grill, The Matinee, and Square Nightclub, along with other businesses like Angel Falls Coffee Company, Aladdin’s Eatery, Mustard Seed Market & Cafe, The Highland Theatre and Walgreens.
The Downtown Akron Special Improvement District is the only other SID in the city. According to tax filings from the Downtown Akron Partnership, which manages it, the district has raked in and doled out an average of more than $800,000 annually over the last five fiscal years.
The downtown pact consists of 590 properties in an area of about 42 blocks, with dues based on an equation factoring property frontage and property values. A significant portion of its funding also comes from private grants and sponsorships, the City of Akron and business membership.
A potential Highland Square SID would be significantly smaller in size — likely just the street-facing businesses in a few blocks on West Market — and budget. The mayor’s office said in an email that it estimates that the SID would raise about $75,000 annually.