Van Nuys : Business Watch Group Identifies Problems

Improving Van Nuys’ image, upping business “curb appeal” and halting illegal dumping top the Sepulveda / Van Nuys Blvd. Business Watch agenda for the new year, said group chairman Flip Smith.

At a Wednesday night meeting, about 35 business owners from the two corridors brainstormed with Police Department senior lead officers and representatives of City Council offices to identify and eradicate problems for businesses.

Among the most commonly cited problems were “visible narcotics sales and visible prostitution” on the boulevards, Smith said. Other business owners cited panhandlers, illegal street vendors and day laborers who loiter on corners as hindrances to commerce.

While many of the problems are the domain of the Police Department, Smith said business owners themselves can tackle illegally parked vehicles and illegal dumping by notifying police personally or by landscaping areas cluttered by dumping.

To keep the strips looking attractive and safe, Smith recommended that shopkeepers write a polite letter to neighbors who are plagued by graffiti or exterior trash.

“I’ll send a letter that says, ‘In order to improve the business climate, please do something about the trash or graffiti,’ ” Smith said. “Ninety percent of the time, people will respond to it--repainting or cleaning up.”

Tackling Van Nuys’ image is a little dicier. Many of the Business Watch members said that the Van Nuys Municipal Courthouse should be renamed the Mid-Valley Municipal Courthouse, so Van Nuys isn’t stigmatized by Valleywide crime.

“If you have a murder in North Hollywood, the story begins ‘Van Nuys’ because that’s where the court is,” Smith observed.

For information, call the Business Watch’s Smith at (818) 786-8686.