In hopes of revitalizing the town’s commercial center, various Village landlords and merchants gathered for two meetings on Wednesday, November 7, to learn details about the campaign to form a Business Improvement District (BID) in Pacific Palisades. ‘You control the money and you make the decisions on how the money is spent,’ said Steve Gibson of Urban Place Consulting to about 15 property and business owners gathered at BOCA, a clothing boutique on Swarthmore, in the second meeting of the day (which replicated the morning meeting across the street at the Oak Room). The BID is a City of L.A.-supported financing mechanism to raise funds and invest them back into the business community, said Gibson, whose company specializes in developing and revitalizing commercial areas. ‘All the money that is raised in the district comes back to the district; it doesn’t go into the government, it doesn’t go to the city and get lost in the bureaucracy there.’ The presentation was an important step to gain support for a14-month effort by a group of business-minded individuals who want to form a BID that embraces both sides of Sunset, from Carey Street west to Via de la Paz, including businesses on Monument, La Cruz, Swarthmore and Via de la Paz. Property owners within this geographic boundary would agree to assess themselves to pay for services within the BID, which could include sidewalk cleaning and repair, tree trimming, enhanced security and trash collection, and collective marketing campaigns and promotions, such as ‘shop local’ programs. BID assessments would appear on the property owner’s County tax bill. The County would then pass the money over to the City, and the City would distribute the money back into a nonprofit established by BID members, said Gibson, whose firm has established BIDs in the Figueroa Corridor, Old Pasadena, North Hollywood and many other locations. The City would also provide financial oversight. A year ago, there were 38 BIDs in Los Angeles and 19 more being formed. The first and hardest step of establishing a BID is the petition campaign, Gibson said. ‘In order to take this BID proposal to City Council, property owners representing more than 50 percent of the proposed assessment in the district would have to sign the petition,’ he said. ‘Your vote is weighted by the amount of assessment that you will pay.’ After the petition is submitted, the City then sends a ballot to all property owners asking them whether they want to establish the district with a yes or no vote. The vote would again be weighted by the amount of assessment being paid by each property owner, Gibson said. Successful completion of the above steps would result in a City Council hearing. The BID would be established and a contract between a nonprofit (established by the BID) and the City Council signed, Gibson said. Once a BID is approved, all landlords are assessed. The BID leadership would be composed of the nonprofit’s board of directors, to consist of assessment-paying property owners. Also, the assessment fees would have property lien rights similar to county taxes. Once the BID is established and the petition is approved, ‘100 percent of properties in the district would pay the assessment’not just the ones that vote for it,’ Gibson said. ‘Another thing that is notable under California law is that private, public and nonprofit properties all would have to pay the same assessment,’ he explained. There are 52 property owners, 72 parcels and 2,507,117 square feet of lot space constituting the boundaries of this BID. Its assessment fee estimate can be based on characteristics ranging from building square footage to frontage space. ‘Most BIDs use either all or at least two of these characteristics,’ Gibson said. ‘What we will do is come up with an assessment methodology that is fair and equitable to all of the property owners: the big ones and the small ones.’ Under California law, the first time a BID is established its members must set term limits for the BID. ‘The maximum term is five years, but you could have anything less than five,’ Gibson told the audience. Once the term limit is reached, the agreement automatically expires and the property owners have to go through the same process again if they wish to continue the BID agreement, Gibson said. So far, the BID campaign appears to be a success. ‘We had more than 50 people participate in the two meetings,’ said Arnie Wishnick, executive director of the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce and a member of the exploratory advisory committee, co-chaired by Palisadians Laurie Sale and Susan Carroll (owner of Gift Garden Antiques on Antioch). Sale was a board member for the Fashion District BID in downtown Los Angeles. The first steps in forming this BID will include the education program, establishing a budget, presenting an assessment methodology, making a management plan and forming the petition, Gibson explained. What’s more, participants of two meetings were asked to fill out a survey about the importance of possible services the BID could provide, such as tree trimming, security and lighting, landscaping and much more. The survey’s results will be used in the formation of the assessment criteria, Gibson told the Palisadian-Post. Because a BID is a tax district, its establishment requires significant coordination with the City Clerk’s office, a public hearing process and approval by the City Council. Even if various deadlines are met, the BID committee could not become official until early 2014.
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