Downtown’s ‘Clean and Safe Program’ Put to Vote
Property owners to vote on renewing the Property & Business Improvement District

SAN DIEGO – The City of San Diego will be mailing ballots on April 28th to benefiting property owners in the downtown area to determine whether to continue and increase the services provided by the Downtown Property and Business Improvement District (PBID), also known as the Clean and Safe Program.

The Downtown PBID was initiated on July 1, 2000 to provide funding for improved maintenance and upkeep of sidewalks, landscaping, and other public areas, as well as public safety services for the Downtown community.  Downtown Property and Business Improvement District services are provided to meet identified needs within each of the following five downtown benefit zones: Core/Columbia, Cortez, East Village, Gaslamp Quarter and Marina.

The Downtown PBID was originally established for a five-year term which will end on June 30, 2005.  If a majority of property owners support the ballot measure, PBID services will be continued and increased beyond June 30, 2005.  If property owners do not support the ballot measure, PBID services will be discontinued after June 30, 2005.  The ballot measure will determine whether to renew the PBID for the next ten years and increase assessments from $2.9 million to $5.8 million to pay for expanded services.  Ballots must be returned to the City before the close of the public hearing, which will be held on Tuesday, June 14^th, at 10 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at 202 C Street in Downtown.   All interested parties are encouraged to attend.

If the ballot measure is approved, the resulting property owner assessments would fund increasing current Downtown PBID services.  Some examples of increased services would be extending the hours of operation to 24-hours a day, adding additional maintenance personnel,  increasing the number of maintenance hours per week (in one zone alone this would increase from 120- to 600-hours per week), adding additional safety personnel, increasing the number of days per week for litter removal and sidewalk sweeping, adding power washing for those not currently receiving the service, increasing graffiti removal from an as-needed to a daily basis, and increasing landscape maintenance from as-needed to a weekly basis.

Assessments are calculated through a formula based on each parcel’s square footage and linear feet of street frontage.  As an example, the East Village currently is assessed at $0.0271 per square foot and $3.6685 per linear foot.  If the Downtown PBID is renewed, East Village would be assessed at $0.0746 per square foot and $6.3355 per linear foot.  These increases would fund the increased services that would be provided.

The Engineer’s Report and Management Plan are available for viewing at the City Clerk’s office, 202 C Street, Second Floor, San Diego, California 92101 or on the City’s Web site at www.sandiego.gov/cpci.  Property owners in the Downtown PBID areas should watch for their ballots in the mail beginning April 30, 2005.  For more information about the Downtown PBID renewal, to receive a ballot, replace a lost or misplaced ballot or for questions regarding the process, please contact Luis Ojeda, with the City’s Community and Economic Development Department, at (619) 533-4246 or lojeda@sandiego.gov.

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With an emphasis on the City’s urban core neighborhoods and low and moderate income residents, the City of San Diego’s Community and Economic Development Department strives to improve the quality of life and ensure a healthy economy in San Diego through job development, business development, neighborhood revitalization, public improvements, redevelopment, social services, and revenue enhancement.