HUNTINGTON BEACH : Council Starts Drive to Aid Auto District

The City Council has taken the first step toward creating a business improvement district to help auto dealers along Beach Boulevard.

A state law allows the creation of such special districts. In the improvement districts, businesses assess themselves varying amounts. The total sum collected is used for the benefit of all of the merchants within the district.

Earlier this year, car dealers on Beach Boulevard agreed on plans to form an improvement district. The dealers primarily want the special district to raise enough money to pay for the operation of an 85-foot-tall electronic “reader board” sign to be erected at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway. The City Council has already approved the sign, which will flash messages about car dealerships in Huntington Beach.

The proposed district would include 10 car dealerships between the San Diego Freeway and Garfield Avenue on Beach Boulevard. Each dealer would be assessed $1,140 a month for the first five years, with the amount decreasing to $705 a month thereafter.

“All of the dealers that plan to assess themselves have agreed to fully support the formation of the proposed business improvement district,” Deputy City Administrator Barbara Kaiser wrote in a memo to the City Council. She urged the council to get the ball rolling by adopting a resolution of intent to form such a business district.

The council voted 7-0 for the resolution. The next step in the legal process is a public hearing, which has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 8 in the council chambers.

State law requires such a public hearing before the creation of a special district. Under the law, the district may be formed unless a certain percentage of merchants object.

However, all of the dealers in the proposed special district for car dealers have already given their approval. The public hearing is expected to be merely a brief formality, city officials said.

By contrast, a proposal last March for a business improvement district in downtown Huntington Beach bitterly divided the merchants. After heated debate, merchants voted to reject the business improvement district idea.