Greenmount Business Critical of Benefits District

Some business owners along Greenmount Avenue say they are tired of paying a surtax  for increased clean-up and security and not getting those services from the Charles Village Community Benefits District.

Casey Jenkins, owner and chef at Darker Than Blue Café, has been vocal about his disappointment about the crime and grime along Greenmount Avenue. The situation has worsened to the point that Jenkins said he is considering moving his acclaimed restaurant.

But Jenkins hasn’t given up hope of finding solutions to the issues along Greenmount. He just no longer believes the benefits district —which charges 12 cents per $100 of assessed value to property owners in the Charles Village area for security and sanitation services—can provide enough help.

Jenkins said the surtax paid by Greenmount businesses should be redirected to Waverly Main Street or a special retail benefits district that can better serve their interests.

“We need to take control of our funds,” Jenkins said.

He also argued that the benefits district, which has offices about 13 blocks from his restaurant, is trying to serve too large an area.

“Thirteen blocks in Baltimore City is like going to a different state,” Jenkins said.

David Hill, executive director of the Charles Village Community Benefits District, disputed contentions by Greenmount business owners that the district has been neglecting Greenmount Avenue. In fact, Hill argued that the Greenmount District had been receiving more than its share of attention and services have been scaled back only recently.

Hill said sanitation services along Greenmount Avenue, 25th Street and in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District have been reduced since July. That reduction was the result of the  in the surtax charged in the district, he said.

Hill said the district had been providing more sanitation services in those areas than anywhere else but because of a $47,000 shortfall in revenue generated by the surtax, those areas are now receiving the same amount of services as other parts of the district. 

Still, Greenmount owners are unhappy. Dave Stahl, owner of Pete’s Grille, agreed with restaurant owner Jenkins that the Greenmount area isn’t getting the level of service it needs from the benefits district.

“They don’t do anything at this time and they haven’t done anything in years,” Stahl said.

Stahl said when he first took over Pete’s Grille several years ago he saw a benefits district employee cleaning up along 32nd Street every morning but that stopped just a short time later.

He said he isn’t ready to call it quits on the benefits district and he believes that the amont merchants pay in the surtax is reasonable. Stahl just wants the district to provide the services it’s supposed to.

“I’d be more than happy to pay [the surtax] if we could get some support services,” Stahl said.

Hill said the district has been reaching out to various Greenmount business associations for years—including the —to get them to participate in board meetings.  But he said that Waverly merchants have only been minimally involved. 

“I think the criticisms are ill-founded,” Hill said.

Hill also said the district is now working with Waverly Main Street, which has applied for a grant from the Abell Foundation. He said if the grant is funded, the district would be able to resume the previous level of service along Greenmount Avenue.

Hill said he didn’t know what the impact would be on the benefits district if Greenmount businesses were to opt out.

“If that’s something they want to try and pursue, they could do that,” Hill said.