By Lookout Staff

Business owners along Pico Boulevard are forming a steering committee to help chart their future in the face of a series of challenges including increased growth and the near certainty that preferential parking will be imposed farther east along the boulevard.

The committee will decide, among other things, whether to establish a business improvement district for Pico and/or a parking assessment district.

The decision was triggered by the imminent completion of improvements along Pico Boulevard. The street improvement project has brought a series of issues into sharper focus, and for a while city staff members and business consultants were able to work full time on the issues raised.

But Gwen Pentecost, who studies economic issues for the city, told the business owners that she and Dan Forgey of the Westside Small Business Development Center would have to cut back the time they give the area in the near future. She strongly urged them to take control of their future by establishing an organization and working together.

Forgey and Pentecost identified seven key "challenges" facing business owners along Pico. The first was the establishment of a distinct area identity based on a name reflecting the area's inherent qualities. Creating an identity and an image, Forgey said, helps to focus consumer interest in a region. Linked to this challenge is the need to promote the corridor's businesses and build customer base.

Parking, Forgey said, is one of the most serious issues, with a proposed preferential parking zone in the area being the latest example in a "groundswell" movement. Relations with SMC, whose representatives were unable to attend the meeting, must be discussed as the expanding college has increasing impact on the surrounding areas. Forgey identified city ordinances, communication with city officials, and understanding of the city process as other key challenges.

Business leaders agreed, complaining about unpopular ordinances, the reluctance of some city staff to return phone calls and the failure of city council members to attend business meetings when invited.

To solve the problems, the two planners advocated active participation by business leaders. They urged the formation of a steering committee, and four business leaders joined it. Several others are expected to join later.

Although Forgey said independent case-by-case negotiation and problem solving was possible, he and Pentecost made a strong case for the formation of a business assessment district or a parking assessment district.