The Palisades Business Improvement District added trash cans and benches to the streets, such as this one on Via de la Paz, near the Pacific Palisades Veterinary Center.
The Pacific Palisades Business Improvement District (BID) board met on Wednesday via Zoom.
Certified by the City of L.A. five years ago, the BID group recently completed its first renewal process and won’t have to renew again until 2030.
The BID boundaries include the Palisades business district, roughly from Via de la Paz to Carey Street along Sunset, and a block or two north and south to include Caruso’s Palisades Village. (For a map, visit: palisadesbid.org.) The annual budget is about $150,000.
In a BID, commercial property owners pay a certain amount to the district, which uses the funds for upkeep and improvements that the City either does not provide or does not have money to provide, such as street and sidewalk cleaning, trash pickup and tree trimming.
This BID pays Chrysalis for two workers to come three times a week to pick up trash. At Wednesday’s meeting, it was reported that in the latest time period, 320 trash bags of material and 10 bulk items were removed from BID district streets.
This past year, the Palisades BID tried to “save” some money for necessary tree trimming along Sunset in 2021, which was done about two years ago, at a cost of more than $30,000.
The Office of the City Clerk, which oversees BIDs and receives an oversight fee from each BID, told the members that money cannot be rolled over each year, that it needs to be spent.
Manuel Pardo, an employee of Village School, who has served as BID treasurer for several years, said “We had to wind down some money or the City would not give it to us, which is why we bought benches and trash cans.”
The additional trash containers and benches were placed around the business district in December and are identified as BID-sponsored street furniture.
One board member suggested that the Chrysalis expenditure should perhaps be cut in order to help pay for tree trimming this year.
Other members disagreed, including David Peterson, who represents PRIDE. “PRIDE is trying to take care of the trash in the Marquez area, and the demand is increasing,” he said, acknowledging that BID needs to do tree trimming, but that the streets/sidewalks also need to be kept clean. “Maybe we could trim half the trees this year and half next?”
Rick Lemmo, a Caruso senior VP, noted that once the pandemic is over, many more people will be walking through the business district and it will be important to keep the area litter-free. “We could trim the trees over two years, hitting the trees that are most necessary,” he said.
Two resignations were announced at the meeting: Hylda Terezon of TOPA and Pardo, who will leave the board in June when he moves to a larger school in Santa Monica. He has been credited with helping the BID navigate the complex requirements of the City regarding funding.