Why this matters
Chula Vista could join other cities to create a tool for businesses and property owners to fund maintenance or upgrades in a neighborhood themselves.
Chula Vista could soon make it easier for property owners and businesses to petition for special taxes that fund neighborhood improvements.
The City Council on Tuesday approved an ordinance that would allow property owners and businesses to petition for the creation of a “community benefit district.” It is a common tool used across other cities that collects and uses revenue to be used within a defined area. The council will need to take one more vote at a later meeting to adopt the ordinance.
The money would fund projects and upgrades ranging from cleaning up street litter and graffiti to installing lights or major neighborhood signs.
To establish a district, businesses and property owners who would pay more than 30% of the taxes collected in the area must submit a petition. A similar mechanism in state law known as a property and business improvement district requires a 50% threshold.
Property and business improvement districts also often require the business owners to renew the tax after a decade. Community benefit districts can exist longer, typically 20 years.
David Graham, the city’s economic development director, said that after the petition process, a simple majority of property owners and businesses would have to approve the district.
“Being able to have a 30% petition threshold allows for the critical step of being able to have enough business owners to demonstrate interest without having a barrier of entry,” he said.
Right now, the city only has one property and business improvement district: a roughly 16-block stretch along Third Avenue downtown.
The district was created more than two decades ago and has paid for dozens of sidewalk gardens, planters, dog bag dispensers, outdoor seating, trash cans and landscaping, said Dominic Li Mandri, district manager at the Downtown Chula Vista Association. The group administers the district.
Property owners and businesses pay about $500,000 annually in special assessments, but the association has been able to leverage that revenue and nearly double it, he said.
“It’s a great entrepreneurial way to revitalize an area,” Li Mandri told the council.
Graham said his team has already researched and identified some “natural areas” for new districts where businesses cluster, from the bayfront’s industrial sector to the office spaces on the city’s east side. Graham noted Third Avenue development has outgrown its existing district and could use an expansion along the corridor.
Councilmember Jose Preciado, who worked in a subcommittee with Councilmember Cesar Fernandez and city staff discussing the ordinance, reminded the public that creating a new district is discretionary.
“My sense is that there are communities that in the absence of a (property and business improvement district), they’ve been looking for opportunities to connect, to see a mechanism that the city can assist them with, not to do their business, but to support the enhancements of their business,” he said.
Fernandez said he’s eyeing Broadway on the city’s west side.
“I see what we have on Third Avenue, and I want that in my district,” he said.
In the city of San Diego, some communities have multiple districts, such as those in North Park and the city’s downtown.
New City America is the company managing the Downtown Chula Vista Association. The firm also revitalized San Diego’s Little Italy and aims to boost El Cajon, which adopted a community benefit district ordinance last year.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
