NEWPORT BEACH : Some Wary About Merchant Assessments

Balboa Peninsula merchants support the City Council’s approval of a Central Balboa Business Improvement District but some are wary.

They say there might be hidden costs and the program might not be worth the assessment they pay for the improvements.

“I’m happy to pay my share to improve things down there, but I want to make sure the city is not abandoning us,” said Richard Vogel, who owns the Balboa Hardware building at Main Street and Balboa Boulevard. “I’ve seen pictures that (city officials) hung up in my neighbors’ windows. . . . There are streets made of bricks, and I know I’m not going to get that for my $128.”

Vogel said the district, which effectively will let merchants tax themselves to fund promotions and design improvements from Coronado Avenue to A Street along either side of Balboa Boulevard, may not do all that business owners believe it is promising.

City Manager Kevin J. Murphy conceded that merchants would not get new sidewalks with brick for their investment but said he and other city officials will seek federal grants and other funding for public improvements.

Restaurateur Sid Soffer said he and other business owners in the area near Newport Pier agreed to similar assessments a few years ago but business has remained flat.

“Ask the people of McFadden Square what the millions of dollars that have been spent up there, that are still being paid for, have done for them,” he chided.

Business owners in that area, and between the bay and beach from Adams Street to A Street, will double what they pay in business license taxes, which range from $100 to $430 per business.