Executive summary The creation of business improvement districts reached fever pitch in the Valley in 1999, with seven new BIDs approved in neighborhoods stretching from Studio City to Reseda. BIDs allow a group of business or property owners to tax themselves to pay for improvements to the neighborhood. BID contributions are either based on property values or merchant sales taxes. They must be approved by a majority vote of businesses or property owners in the designated area, and by the City Council. Most Valley BIDs on the list have been in the works for several years, but they were just approved in 1999. The oldest BIDs in the greater Valley are the Lancaster Downtown Parking and Business Improvement District and the Old Pasadena Business and Professional District, both established in 1989. Most Valley BIDs are just getting started and are expected to take at least another year before they begin showing evidence of change. Plans in the works by BIDs include streetscape improvements, such as added lighting or public art, as well as major projects like new public parking garages to entice more pedestrian traffic. The pacesetter Studio City Business Improvement District Covering six city blocks and with an annual budget of $300,000, the Studio City Business Improvement District clocks in as the top BID in the San Fernando Valley. The Studio City BID, established in 1999, covers 250 property owners along Ventura Boulevard between Carpenter and Rhodes streets. It plans to improve the streetscape by adding trash cans and more street parking. It is also planning to market and promote the area more aggressively, add security patrols and eventually build a public parking garage. In terms of budget, the Studio City BID is tied with the Canoga Park Improvement Association as the biggest in the Valley. The Canoga Park BID, also a property-based assessment area, covers four blocks and 230 businesses along Sherman Way between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Canoga Avenue. The group is planning landscape and lighting improvements along the street, as well as a marketing campaign for the area and security patrols. “The major thrust for the Canoga Park BID would be, in the short term, to look at community development for the neighborhood and businesses,” said Vicki Gilkey, program manager for the BID. “We want to create a community.” The Canoga Park BID was organized in January and has focused its initial efforts on cleaning up the area by hiring the Hollywood Beautification Team to landscape the area and using volunteers to keep the street and sidewalks clean. The next step will be to form a neighborhood watch and business watch program to increase security. The BID has also teamed with nonprofit group Local Initiative Support Group, which has given the BID loans and matching grants to help with the revitalization effort. “We want to instill pride in the community,” Gilkey said. “That’s something we’ve lost in Canoga Park.”
