Not Business as Usual on ‘Main St.’

Ventura Boulevard’s recent history is a sad tale of overdevelopment followed by over-regulation followed by a slow, steady slide. But recent efforts by businesses to curb the boulevard’s decline show the buildup of an encouraging momentum.

Over the next few weeks and months, business owners and community leaders along the 17 miles of the Valley’s “Main Street” will discuss the formation of several business improvement districts. The districts would allow business or property owners to assess themselves fees that could be pooled to finance improvements such as benches and trees and fresh paint or even to advertise the neighborhood as a great place to spend an evening--and to spend a few dollars.

The Los Angeles City Council started the process earlier this year by allotting $450,000 in federal funds to six Valley communities--all but one of them, Reseda, along the boulevard. The grants will be used to hire consultants to work with the various groups in deciding how much money to raise, how best to spend it and how long the assessments should continue. Once that’s hammered out, a majority vote by the business or property owners in each of the areas would be necessary to begin.

We encourage merchants and building owners to support the districts. They could be the first steps toward matching the kind of success realized in such places as Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade and Old Pasadena. Since the business owners themselves decide how to spend the money, it can be put to use quickly to solve the problems they identify as most pressing. For instance, if the businesses decide that they need extra security to draw customers, then the money could be spent to hire private guards or to install better lighting.

In that way, the improvement district has distinct advantages over a similar improvement program that was part of the mammoth Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan and administered by the city. That program set aside a percentage of money raised from the plan’s unreasonably high development fees to be spent on aesthetic improvements. But with development grinding to a halt even before the plan was finally adopted, very little money accumulated. The program ultimately was scrapped when the Planning Commission lowered the fees after protests from developers.

Life on the boulevard is slowly reviving from its recession- and earthquake-induced malaise. Now seems a particularly appropriate time to spend a little money to keep the aging strip looking nice and feeling safe. Optimistic merchants with a little extra business are more likely to agree to spending $30 or $40 a month now than they might be if the economy turns sour. And that modest investment just might help them weather any future downturns by keeping their neighborhoods attractive.