Property owners in the Pacific Palisades Village pay to belong to the Business Improvement District.
Current President Elliot Zorensky Stepping Down
At the Pacific Palisades Business Improvement District (BID) meeting on July 10, current president Elliot Zorensky announced that he will resign his position because he and his wife are moving to Las Vegas.
The owner of UDO Realty, which owns commercial real estate on La Cruz and on Sunset, has family in Las Vegas, including his two sons.
A new president will be elected from the district that encompasses the businesses, schools and DWP from about Ralphs to Gelson’s and from the 881 Alma Real building to Caruso’s Palisades Village.
Property owners in that area are assessed and pay a yearly fee to the BID, which in turn offers tree trimming, sidewalk washing and garbage pickup through Chrysalis.
Caruso’s Palisades Village, although charged through the BID, does not use the services and provides its own cleanup.
In 2017, Palisades Elementary, via LAUSD, was assessed $13,916, but only paid $5,516. The BID is currently working on a renewal with higher fees, and most likely, the school will be left out of the BID this year.
At the July 10 meeting, Chrysalis reported that its employees had picked up 256 bags of garbage three bulk items and had removed one graffiti tag.
The nonprofit also cleaned up the streets after the parade and was paid by Palisades Americanism Parade Association.
Although the City had offered to return a portion of the local parking-meter revenues back to Pacific Palisades and funnel this money through the BID into streetscape projects (informed by community input meetings), the pilot program is currently in limbo.
BID board members will send a letter to the Pacific Palisades Community Council. Currently, if someone is a property owner in Pacific Palisades, he or she can only vote for the council’s at-large representative.
Everyone who lives in Pacific Palisades can vote not only for their area representative, but also for the at-large rep. “Our vote is diluted with everyone else,” Zorensky said. “Property owners should also be allowed to vote for the area rep where their business is located.”
Although the Chamber of Commerce has a permanent seat on the PPCC, it was pointed out that they represent the businesses. Business property owners could join the Chamber, but Zorensky pointed out, “In an election, I voted for the area rep where my businesses are and was told my ballots didn’t count.” The person he voted for lost by one vote.
A letter will be sent to PPCC requesting a by-law change.
Generally, the BID meets the first Wednesday of the month at the Palisades Chamber of Commerce. The BID, a nonprofit, operates under the Brown Act and the agenda is posted 72 hours ahead of the meeting in the Chamber window. The public is invited.
Visit: palisadesbid.org