NEWPORT BEACH : Merchants to Join and Spruce Up Balboa

Balboa Peninsula merchants will join together in a Central Balboa Business Improvement District as part of an ongoing effort to spruce up the peninsula’s commercial district and make it more attractive to customers.

The City Council is expected to approve the district at its meeting today.

The district will extend from Coronado Avenue to A Street along either side of Balboa Boulevard, and will include all businesses between the bay and beach from Adams Street to A Street.

Business owners will pay an annual assessment roughly equal to their business license tax, which ranges from $100 to $430 per business.

The money will be spent on items like landscape improvements; decorations, benches and lamps; promotion of cooperative events and sales; studies and surveys on what will make the area more attractive to consumers, and help in designing facades to give the area a more unified appearance.

The Balboa Merchants and Owners Assn. unanimously approved the plan and its board of directors will serve as the advisory panel to direct the spending of what is expected to be a $20,000 annual budget--$17,000 of that put up by business operators and $3,000 by property owners.

The move toward business districts was begun late last year, when Assistant City Manager Ken Delino invited merchants from all over the city to hear a consultant talk about the advantages of such a district.

A business improvement district provides mall-style management and coordination, which Delino said will make the city’s village-type shopping areas more competitive with one-stop malls.

Peninsula business owners have universally endorsed the idea, Delino said in a report to the council.

Other villages have also expressed interest, and Delino said he expects to bring plans for similar districts in Corona del Mar and Balboa Island before the council during the next few months.

Other recent efforts to improve the business climate on the peninsula include removal of six parking meters on Main Street near the Fun Zone--an effort to get people out of their cars and make the area more attractive to pedestrians--and a Central Balboa community improvement plan.

Once the district is approved, the City Council will review its operations annually to monitor progress and hear any protests of assessments.