WESTMINSTER : Bridge Building in Little Saigon

The mile-long commercial strip known as Little Saigon has no recognizable landmark, a group of business leaders says, and that has hindered its development as a tourist attraction.

To remedy that situation, the group is proposing an ornate, $4-million pedestrian bridge spanning Bolsa Avenue and has won preliminary City Council approval to form Westminster’s first Mello Roos tax assessment district to help finance the project.

“This will be a major landmark and a strong statement that this is the heart of Little Saigon,” said Frank Jao, a real estate developer who is heading the project and leads the group of six property owners.

An artist’s rendering shows a 30-foot-wide bridge that is Asian in design and decorated with dragons, a pagoda-style canopy and the message “Welcome to Little Saigon.”

The plan, Jao said, is to link Asian Garden Mall and Asian Village, the area’s main shopping areas. Retailers would have space to set up merchandise on both sides of the lighted structure, leaving a 10-foot walkway down the middle.

“Our intent is to carry a continuity of service along both sides of Bolsa,” Jao said. “People don’t like walking down cold, dark tunnels.”

The bridge would be about 500 feet long, about a fourth of it directly above Bolsa Avenue in the 9200 block.

Also planned for the area are improvements such as landscaping, benches, a fountain and an outdoor dining area.

The financing should be in place by April, Jao said, and construction of the bridge should be completed by November.

The plan calls for property owners to form a Community Facilities District under the 1982 Mello Roos Act, which is designed to give private property owners assistance with financing public improvements, said Brian Mayhew, Westminster’s finance director.

Property owners would vote to form the district, and, with City Council approval, Westminster would then issue as much as $2.2 million in tax-exempt bonds. The landowners would pay additional property taxes until the debt is retired, Mayhew said. No other businesses would be affected by the tax district, he said.

The $2.2 million will pay for the section of the bridge that will cover Bolsa Avenue, Jao said. The additional $2 million will be paid by the landowners.

For years, city officials have dreamed of making Little Saigon, with its Vietnamese restaurants and retail outlets, a tourist mecca. The first step, they said, was the posting of signs along the San Diego and Garden Grove freeways a few years ago.

Councilman Tony Lam said that building the bridge would be a big plus for local commerce.

“This bridge is very significant to the demarcation of the tourist area, to welcome visitors to Little Saigon. The next step will be a Vietnamese cultural center and visitors bureau.”