Council Is Expected to OK Business District Upgrade

The Los Angeles City Council today is expected to approve a Business Improvement District in Sherman Oaks that is likely to address one of the area’s more urgent problems: parking.

BIDs are geographically defined business districts where merchants or property owners agree to assess themselves to pay for extra services to improve the area.

There are already 17 BIDs in the city of Los Angeles, including those in Tarzana and Van Nuys--and 16 others have been proposed.

Other San Fernando Valley communities with BID proposals include Woodland Hills, Granada Hills, Studio City, Canoga Park, Chatsworth, Encino, Northridge and Reseda.

Here’s how it works: BID organizers must gather signatures from 51% of property owners in the proposed district and, after City Council approval, members of the district assess themselves a fee based on storefront footage.

The fees collected pay for improvements that will make the area more appealing to shoppers. They may include landscaping, painting, adding benches and street lights, improving security and marketing campaigns.

Proposals to improve the parking situation include working more closely with the Department of Transportation to create more public parking and developing a system using existing private lots that would accept validations from area merchants.

“This [BID] is great because it enables property owners to do for themselves things that need to be done and the city isn’t able to accomplish,” said Sondra Frohlich, a spokeswoman for the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce and a member of the area’s BID committee.

In Sherman Oaks, the BID will include sections along both sides of Van Nuys Boulevard from the Ventura Freeway to Ventura Boulevard, and along Ventura Boulevard between Van Nuys Boulevard and Cedros Avenue.

A 10-member steering committee has been studying ways to spruce up the commercial corridors there, but nothing specific has been decided, Frohlich said.

“It’s all in the preliminary stages,” she said. “We’re having group meetings to identify the specific needs.”

Among the general things the Sherman Oaks steering committee proposes are street-scape improvements, marketing and promotion, and adding much-needed parking in the congested area.

L.A. City Councilman Mike Feuer, who represents Sherman Oaks, said the area is sure to benefit from the BID.

“I’m looking forward to the BID aggressively promoting business and recruiting new tenants,” he said.