Working to create a business improvement district in Cambodia Town

L-R: Richer San, first vice chair and Pasin Chanou, chair of Cambodia Town, Inc. are volunteers that have spent years working to create a property business improvement district for Cambodia Town. (Brittany Murray / Staff Photographer)

Also, in case you did not know:

Richer San (3rd from left) on trip to meet Xok An on July 12, 2007

April 26, 2012
By Greg Mellen Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

LONG BEACH - Richer San walks to a file cabinet and pulls open a file drawer overstuffed with reports, surveys and studies that represent years spent working to create Cambodia Town in Long Beach and, more important, set up a business improvement district along Anaheim Street.

In July, Cambodia Town Inc., will celebrate its fifth anniversary, but San and his volunteer group are only about halfway through their efforts to get 235 of 470 businesses along the busy commercial corridor to commit to the business improvement district, or BID.

The formation of BIDs and property-based improvement districts, or PBIDs, was the topic of discussion at a Town Hall presented by the 6th Council District Office on Tuesday at McBride Park in the Central Area.

The districts provide a way for businesses and/or property owners to collaborate to fund business and neighborhood improvement and activities. A nonprofit board of directors levies a fee on properties and pays for those projects. The city must approve the districts, but is not involved in operations and doesn't receive money.

The districts have been successful in areas of Long Beach such as downtown, Bixby Knolls and Belmont Shore, officials say.

"We would like to see something in our district like we see in downtown," said Councilman Dee Andrews at the meeting.

John Edmond, chief of staff for Andrews, said he can envision a number of BIDs and PBIDs that could form and eventually transform the Central Area. 

Cambodia Town could become a vibrant economic hub if businesses joined forces, Long Beach Boulevard could turn into a major draw for used auto dealerships, Pacific Avenue could build off improvements it saw from recent upgrades, the Antioch Church and surrounding neighborhoods could form a unique and exciting bond, he said.

These are among the areas where BIDs and PBIDs have been discussed, although only Cambodia Town is formally at work to create a district.

In past years, the Redevelopment Agency was counted on to pay for much of the blight removal, revitalization and economic development in the city. Those days are gone.

With the dismantling of redevelopment agencies statewide and seemingly never-ending cuts in federal, state and city funds, city leaders are encouraging residents and businesses to start taking added responsibility for improvements they'd like to see in their areas.

"The private sector will drive this process," said Kraig Kojian, director of the Downtown Long Beach Associates, which oversees the largest BID and PBID in Long Beach. "We're seeing the RDA is gone. Economic development has waned, Community Development has waned. So what will you do to protect your investment?"

Critics see the districts as nothing more than added taxes and suspect they simply allow the city to abrogate its responsibilities.

Kojian says organizations such as his provide a layer of service and protection for businesses.

"We provide services above and beyond what the city can do," Kojian said. "People tell me, `The city should do that.' I say, `Yeah, but it's not going to happen."'

Edmond stressed that the money collected by the districts is never touched by the city and used solely for the projects members want.

At Tuesday's meeting, Kojian, Blair Cohen, executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association, and Rod Wilson, head to the recently formed East Anaheim Street Business Alliance, gave residents a primer on the process and mechanics of creating districts.

The districts are nothing new and come in an array of forms and permutations.

Long Beach has two PBIDs, in downtown and the Magnolia Industrial Group. BIDs include downtown, Bixby Knolls, Belmont Shore and East Anaheim. Andy Street has its own take of a district with the Andy Street Multi-Family Improvement District.

It usually takes a minimum of 12 to 15 months of painstaking and time intensive work to conduct surveys, fulfill legal requirements, attain city approval and stage an election.

Districts come in all shapes and sizes. Some are old and established, others are still finding their way. The DLBA has a $2.3 million budget and about 1,800 members. It was formed as a volunteer organization in 1937 in the wake of the 1933 earthquake, was incorporated in 1957 and formed its PBID in 1998.

At the other end of the spectrum is East Anaheim Street, which has only been operating since July 2010 and spent two years pulling together. It has 500 members who pay an average of $300 per year.

Bixby Knolls has about 800 members.

The benefit of the districts, according to those who run them, is they are self-directed.

"Every community does it differently," Kojian said.

The three districts at Tuesday's meeting offer different services.

In downtown, about 65 percent of the budget is spent on cleaning and safety. In Bixby Knolls, Cohn has worked to "reconnect residents to businesses, through walking clubs, a literary society, supper club and the popular First Fridays events.

"We don't wait for the city," Cohn said. "We're hard-charging every day, that's our motto."

On East Anaheim, a study of the area's historical roots as the Zaferia District and banners promoting the area, its businesses and the 100th anniversary have been installed. The group is also planning to install closed circuit cameras at major intersections to add to public safety and help the police.

Andrews said business and property districts have helped create significant economic development and have played a role in fighting crime. He cited a 2009 RAND study that showed robbery and violent crime dropped by an average 12 percent after the districts were formed in various parts of Los Angeles from 1995 to 2003.

The recently renamed Central Project Area Commission, which formerly was affiliated with the RDA, has been promoting the idea of BIDs and PBIDs for the past six or seven years, according to chairwoman Annie Greenfeld.

Sam Portillo is a resident of Chestnut Street north of Pacific Coast Highway. He said he has been involved with several BIDs in Los Angeles and seen firsthand the positive effects.

"I've seen it time and time again. The more you see it and get it going, the more you benefit," said Portillo, who has been organizing residents in his area and businesses along nearby Pacific Avenue. "I'd like to see what we can get done."

Meanwhile, San says he and new Cambodia Town president Pasin Chanou continue to expend shoe leather promoting the idea on Anaheim Street.

"When we explain it to them, they support the idea," he said.

"It's all about you, not us," Andrews said to the large crowd at Tuesday's meeting. "You can say what you want, but if you don't do the work, it won't get done."

greg,mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-714-2093, twitter.com/gregmellenpt