Monterey Park

The Monterey Park Chamber of Commerce will be paid up to $10,000 to obtain an agreement from property owners along Monterey Pass Road to tax themselves for sidewalks and landscaping.

Leslie L. Andersen, city economic development officer, said the 2.4-mile industrial road is lined with businesses that are among the city’s revenue leaders, but the area is deteriorating. She said tenants are moving to newer industrial parks that are cheaper and more attractive.

Andersen recommended that the city hire a company to compute the cost of improvements for each of the 89 property owners along the street and to start proceedings to create an assessment district. But the council instead voted 3 to 2 to hire the chamber to contact property owners, in an effort to build voluntary cooperation. The chamber will receive up to $5,000 for expenses and a performance bonus of up to $5,000 if it succeeds in obtaining an agreement from owners of 60% of the frontage on Monterey Pass Road. The city needs approval from owners of that percentage of the frontage in order to create an assessment district.

The city has budgeted $700,000 to repair and rebuild the street. This improvement would be in addition to the sidewalks and landscaping costs billed to property owners.