Councilmembers talk DDA

The Downtown Development Authority was originally formed in 2014 by 25% of the people owning non-residential property within the downtown district in Sheridan. The group executed a petition to form a DDA and presented it to the Sheridan City Council, requesting that the City approve ordinances establishing the DDA. In late November of 2019, the City Council appointed a new board of directors for the DDA and established new bylaws.

After two members of the DDA resigned and another voiced intentions to do the same, the city council began discussions on what the next step for the DDA may be. 

While appearing on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse program, Sheridan City Council members Kristen Jennings and Greg Luhman told listeners their differing opinions of the DDA’s future function in Sheridan. 

Luhman said he sees the DDA as a body that can aid in the effort by those downtown building owners who wish to utilize their second floors for housing. 

Jennings told listeners she feels the city has the means to resolve any issues that the DDA would be tasked to handle. And the DDA only adds another level of bureaucracy and funding demand. 

Ultimately, by a 5-2 vote, the council voted to hibernate the DDA while also voting to put some funds aside, should the DDA ever be resurrected. If the DDA is not taken out of that hibernation, the money would go back into the general fund.