Council adopts resolution of intention for Reseda Business Improvement District after public debate over assessments
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Summary
The Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution of intention for the proposed Reseda Business Improvement District and set a final hearing after business owners testified they lacked clear notice and raised concerns about uneven assessments.
The Los Angeles City Council on March 1999 adopted a resolution of intention to form a Reseda Business Improvement District (BID) and set a final hearing to mail a management plan to affected businesses.
Business owners and residents filled the public comment period during Item 8, arguing they had received insufficient notice about the BID boundary and proposed assessments. Lois Fishman and other long-time Reseda business owners said they were unclear on who would be billed and requested personal outreach; one speaker said she stood to be billed “almost $3,000 per year” if assessments were levied. Supporters — including the Reseda Chamber executive director Anne Kinsell, project manager Lauren Schlau of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative, and several business owners — urged the council to approve the resolution to fund lighting, sidewalks, facade grants and other streetscape improvements.
Councilmember Laura Chick described multiple outreach efforts over roughly three years, including mailings and door-to-door contact, and explained that some properties already pay sidewalk maintenance assessments; those already assessed would not be double-billed for that particular service, a staff clarification intended to explain why assessment amounts varied. City staff also said the management plan and assessment amounts would be mailed to all businesses in the proposed BID area ahead of the final hearing, which the council scheduled for a later date.
The council adopted the resolution of intention and continued the matter to a final hearing date so that the mailed management plan would formally notify affected businesses and provide a chance for final comments. The vote to adopt the resolution and appoint the board was recorded by the clerk; the matter was continued to the final hearing as announced.
The next procedural step is the final hearing at which the council will consider the ordinance for the BID after business owners receive the mailed management plan with detailed assessment amounts and specific programs to be funded.