Boulevard BID won’t be renewed


The Thousand Oaks Boulevard Property Owners Business Improvement District is sunsetting at the end of the year after members decided not to extend the special assessment district beyond 15 years. Acorn file photo

Once billed as the force that would propel the city’s namesake thoroughfare to retail success, the Thousand Oaks Boulevard Business Improvement District will sunset at the end of the year.

Formed in 2005 by boulevard property owners who agreed to tax themselves, the BID was responsible for the creation of 2011’s council-approved Thousand Oaks Boulevard Specific Plan, which devised a specific set of rules for a stretch of the roadway between Moorpark Road and Duesenberg Drive intended to promote a pedestrian-friendly shopping experience.

With another authorization vote coming up this year—the last one covered 10 years—the board of directors of the special district instead decided to pull the plug, deciding that 15 years was enough.

The district collected around $125,000 a year in assessments from over 200 property owners covering 300 some parcels.

Current BID president Shawn Moradian, who also serves as president of the partner organization Thousand Oaks Boulevard Association, or TOBA, said the decision was made late last year. He said the improvement district was not meant to last in perpetuity.

“We fulfilled what the intent of the BID was, so we didn’t think it was appropriate to go back to our members and ask them to pay the assessment for another five years,” Moradian said.

Haider Alawami, the city’s economic development manager, has worked closely with the BID over the last decade, attending directors’ meetings and serving as the city’s liaison to the group.

Asked about the BID’s disbandment, Alawami said he’s not surprised, given that the organization has largely served its purpose.

The idea behind the special district was to help craft a specific plan for the corridor that would revitalize the boulevard by addressing key elements such as traffic and parking, beautification and signage.

“Unless they want to be involved in landscape maintenance or sidewalk maintenance, which is what other BIDs do, they’ve achieved their goals,” Alawami said.

Becca Whitnall