PURPOSE

The purpose of this agenda item is for the City of Burbank to accept the submission of a petition from Magnolia Park property owners and to authorize the initiation of proceedings to form the Property-Based, Business Improvement District (P-BID).

BACKGROUND

In October 2003, staff conducted several focus group meetings to determine the present situation and future needs for Magnolia Park as perceived by key constituencies of the community.  The desired outcome was to achieve a roadmap that would lead the district through a series of steps that would allow it to fulfill its potential, developed by and for its own residents and businesses.

In January 2004, staff presented the findings of the focus groups meetings to the City Council. At that time, the Council directed staff to share those findings with the Community Advisory Committee and develop a strategy to carry out the various components of the findings.

After reviewing the findings of the various focus groups, the Community Advisory Committee requested that the neighboring community be surveyed to make sure that the focus group findings do in fact reflect the views of the neighborhood. The survey was sent out to approximately 3,000 households, with a return of over 400 representing a 12% return rate, which is considered a very high response rate.  As it turned out, the results of the survey echoed the findings of the focus groups.

In September 2004, staff presented the Magnolia Park Action Plan that included the results from the five survey groups, the 3,000 sent residential survey, and input from the Magnolia Park Community Advisory Committee. The Action Plan findings recommended numerous improvements and programs such as retail leasing, parking, promotions and events, and other miscellaneous improvements. These various activities were recommended to be funded by a proposed P-BID.  From these recommendations, staff proceeded to contact Downtown Resources to discuss a possible P-BID for Magnolia Park, the consultant firm, which helped form the Downtown Burbank Partnership P-BID. With this assistance, staff initiated meetings with property owners in the Magnolia Park area to hear what improvements they would like to see and to see if they might be interested in a P-BID forming to make the improvements happen. A Steering Committee was subsequently formed to work with staff and Downtown Resources to develop the Magnolia Park Management District Plan. The Steering Committee met monthly and numerous property owner meetings were conducted to develop a draft management plan. Three public, large-group meetings were conducted with property owners to share the draft plan with them and receive feedback.

Staff gave an update on the progress of the Magnolia Park P-BID and presented the draft P-BID District Management Plan to the City Council on February 21, 2006. Council directed staff to continue working on the formation of the P-BID which could among other things possibly provide matching funds for proposed parking improvements.

A final District Plan was made available to the property owners as well as a bullet point brochure outlining the improvements in the plan. Two public meetings were held in the petition drive. The kickoff meeting was held at Porto�s and the second meeting was held at Monte Carlo�s. In addition, a letter with the accompanying petition was sent to the property owners on two occasions. Members of the Steering Committee, the Community Advisory Committee, and staff made individual contacts to property owners discussing the plan and progress of the P-BID.

Property owners representing more than 50% of the proposed assessment have signed a petition to initiate the special assessment proceedings (Exhibit A).

If the City approves the initiation of proceedings, ballots will be sent out to all property owners within the proposed District to vote on whether to approve the formation of the P-BID. The City will also be authorizing the setting of a noticed public hearing on the proposed P-BID on August 8, 2006. At that time, the City Council will accept the ballots and consider final approval of the P-BID.

ANALYSIS

As outlined in the staff report on February 21, 2006, the Magnolia Park Management District Plan describes the District boundary, services and improvements, budget, cost, formation, and duration (Exhibit B).

The Plan can be summarized as follows:

�         District Boundary is proposed to include commercial properties along Magnolia Blvd. and Hollywood way, bound by Chandler Blvd. to the north, Clark Ave. to the south, the City limits to the west, and Buena Vista to the east (See Map, Exhibit C).

�         Services and Improvements include a parking program with a goal to create or make available at least 150 new or newly managed spaces in Magnolia Park.

�          Maintenance Services to clean debris from street trees and increase the frequency of litter removal along with an Urban Reforestation program.

�          Promotions, Advertising, Events, and Business Recruitment to support attract more desirable businesses.

�          Advocacy to promote business interests and allow the business community to speak with one voice.

�         The total District budget for each year of its five (5) year operation is a base of approximately $250,000 per year with a maximum 3% increase per year.

�         Assessments formulas for the District are divided between two zones. Zone 1 runs from Buena Vista Ave. and Magnolia Blvd. to Pass Ave. including Hollywood Way from Clark Ave. to Chandler Blvd. Zone 2 runs from Pass Ave. to Ledge St. on Magnolia Blvd. The cost to the property owners in Zone 1 is $0.12 per lot square foot per year plus $0.05 per building square foot per year.  Because of fewer services and reduced benefit, the cost to owners in Zone 2 is $0.06 per lot square foot per year plus $0.025 per building square foot per year.  Because of the commercial nature of the improvement programs, residential and tax-exempt properties are not assessed. 

�         District Term for the proposed District will be five years.  After five (5) years, the petition process, ballot process, and City Council public hearing process must be repeated for the District to be reestablished.

Annual Budget Summary

Parking Improvement                                                                            $67,500

Maintenance                                                                                        $57,500

Promotion, Advertising, Events, and Business Recruitment                     $55,000

Advocacy and Administration                                                   $65,000

Contingency Reserve                                                                            $5,000

Total                                                                                                   $250,000

Magnolia Park P-BID Governance

The proposed District shall be governed by a private non-profit corporation with oversight from the Burbank City Council.  The Board of Directors of the non-profit organization and its staff are charged with the day-to-day operations of the Property-based, Business Improvement District.  In addition the state law requires that the nonprofit corporation provide an annual report to City Council to report on revenue received, expenditures made, and budgets for the upcoming year.

This plan proposes that the Board of Directors of the non-profit corporation be comprised of a large majority of property owners paying the proposed assessment.  In addition, the Board of Directors must represent a variety of interests within the District and respond to the needs of property and business owners. In order to achieve this diverse representation, the initial Board of Directors as outlined in the Plan is proposed to be comprised of the following board seats:

            6   Property Owners (Could also be business owners)

            2   Residential Representatives

            2   City Representatives

            1   Business Owner

The Board of Directors shall act in the best interests of all of the properties and businesses within the proposed District.  The diverse representation described above ensures that the interests of all of the properties and business in the District shall be fairly represented.

FISCAL IMPACT

The City is being asked to consider initiating the proceedings for formation of the P-BID; therefore, there will be no fiscal impact at this time. Should at the actual hearing, the City Council approve the proposed P-BID, the Parking Authority would be assessed $1,807 per year for five years, or a total of $9,035 for the parking lots it owns in the District. In addition, per a license agreement with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Parking Authority is required to pay their assessment for a property that the Parking Authority uses as a public parking lot in the amount of $ 1,518 per year or $7,590 over five years. Also, staff is in the process of working with the LADWP on leasing a second property for a public parking lot. The terms and potential partnership with the P-BID are still to be determined; however, like the other agreement with LADWP, it is anticipated that the terms will be on a �triple net basis�, thus the Parking Authority would be responsible for this assessment as well. However, the proposed transaction with the P-BID may allow this cost to be paid by the P-BID. It is estimated that the annual assessment for this property will be $4,860.

CONCLUSION

 A comprehensive strategy for improvements for the Magnolia Park area will require a broad level of property and business owner support including a dedicated funding source to be successfully implemented. The proposed P-BID offers a voice to owners and businesses, backed-up with funding to support a vital retail area.

RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that the City Council and the Parking Authority take the following actions:  1) Adopt the resolution authorizing the Executive Director of the Parking Authority to sign the proposed petition on behalf of the Parking Authority; and 2) Adopt the City Resolution of Intention to initiate the proceedings for the proposed Business Improvement District; and, 3) authorize the Executive Director of the Parking Authority to cast a ballot in support of the District. 

EXHIBITS:

A         List of Petition Signatories

B         Management District Plan

C         Map of Proposed BID