Committee recommends disestablishing small Broadway district and backs annual reports for Castro, Noe Valley and Ocean Avenue CBDs

The Government Audit & Oversight Committee on Sept. 17 recommended the Board of Supervisors set a Nov. 17 hearing to disestablish the Top of Broadway Community Benefit District and recommended positive reports for three other San Francisco property-based CBDs.

Chris Gorgas of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development told the committee the Top of Broadway CBD met three of four OEWD benchmarks for FY 2018–19 but faced a chronic structural deficit after outside subsidies declined. He said the owners association requested early disestablishment because special assessments alone would not sustain operations. "OEWD has confirmed that the CBD has met all requirements to disestablish early," Gorgas said, and staff recommended setting the Committee of the Whole hearing for 11/17/2020.

Dominic Lemandri, district director for Top of Broadway, described the district’s small footprint—roughly two square blocks and about 130 businesses—and said staff stretched a roughly $150,000 operating budget across seven‑day maintenance, graffiti abatement and streetscape projects. He said the owners association collected petitions weighted to 47.29% of property owners in favor of winding down operations.

The committee moved the Top of Broadway resolution to the full Board with a positive recommendation (vote: 3–0).

Separately, OEWD staff presented annual reports for the Castro/Upper Market, Noe Valley and Ocean Avenue CBDs and recommended forwarding those reports to the Board. Chris Gorgas said Castro/Upper Market met all four OEWD benchmarks, raising about 42% of operating revenue from nonassessment sources and successfully completing renewal. "The CBD has performed well in implementing the service plan for the district," he said. Andrea Aiello, executive director of the Castro/Upper Market CBD, highlighted cleaning statistics, grants and community events.

OEWD reported Noe Valley did not meet one benchmark due to historic management‑plan structure and recommended adjustments tied to the renewal that took place in FY 2019–20. Deborah Neiman, Noe Valley executive director, described the district’s events, tree care and storefront activation.

For Ocean Avenue, OEWD said the CBD met all benchmarks and recommended an in‑depth organizational review and expanded multilingual outreach to Cantonese‑speaking merchants if the district pursues renewal and expansion. Dan Weaver, Ocean Avenue executive director, described cleaning contracts, community events and plans to pursue expansion areas near Balboa Park BART.

All four items were recommended to the full Board for confirmation and next steps.

The committee acted on each CBD item after OEWD presentations and brief Q&A; no substantive amendments were made. The Board will receive the committee’s recommendations at its next scheduled meeting.