Business Improvement District

RECENT ACTIVITIES:

Ongoing monthly services to maintain both the parkway benches and trash receptacles continued. On March 27, 2009 you might have seen some Chrysalis workers sweeping along Devonshire. Though they have already done their normally scheduled cleaning for the week, we received last minute funding from one of the City homeless agencies that had to be spent on worker salaries this week, so crews were sent out an extra day this week to clean the Chatsworth BID streets. The watering of sidewalk tree basins is no longer needed, due to the trees’ maturation, per our vendor. We now ask our district’s business owners to maintain a welcoming appearance to attract shoppers by occasionally pulling out the weeds that may grow in front of your building(s).  The Chatsworth public benches and trash receptacles were thoroughly cleaned and the graffiti removed throughout the quarter whenever it was spotted, which generally created a welcome environment for all who do business or who visited to shop in our area. If you wish to report graffiti on the benches or trash receptacles please contact our office, if however you find graffiti anywhere else, the Graffiti Hotline is 1(800) 675-4357.

The Chatsworth B.I.D. is entering a new assessment year and would like to welcome a few new businesses to the community, including: Mother India Catering, Fazio Cleaners, Fiesta Plaza Nutritional Products, Casa D' Realty, and Amore Café & More.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

The Board continued in its efforts to promote its mission of enhancing business growth for its stakeholders as well as maintaining a clean and hospitable district.  WE ARE ACTIVELY SOLICITING STAKEHOLDERS FOR NEW IDEAS AND PROJECTS TO HELP FACILITATE PROGRAMS AND MAINTAIN A PROFITABLE AND ATTRACTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNITY.

Stakeholders are encouraged to attend Board meetings to voice their ideas and opinions. The board will meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 11:30am to 12:30pm in the Chatsworth train depot community conference room. The direct phone number, (now with voice mail) is now 818-721-0171.

SAFETY/SECURITY:

Security patrols, provided by stakeholder Access Control Security, conduct a high-visibility patrol in the front and rear areas of the BID district four tours per night between 8pm and 6am.  Their top priority is crime prevention.

On 1/9/09 at 8:45pm a construction crew was seen working in the Union Bank, these are late hours for a crew but all seemed okay. On 1/9/09 at 11:45 pm a police presence was observed at the Cowboy Palace rear lot due to a fight. Since the police were on site no other security presence was needed. On 1/11/09 at 12:37am two guys and a female were standing in the Ralph’s parking lot next to their car. After a little while a black mustang pulled up, exchanged something with them then drove off. The police were notified of this activity.

On 1/14/09 at 8:03pm there was a construction crew in Union Bank. The patrol stopped to question them and made sure there were no broken doors or windows. On 1/23/09 at 11:10pm the Cowboy Palace Saloon had police activity due to a fight, the situation was taken care of and there was no other unusual activity. On 1/30/09 at 3:22am the first patrol observed a rear door wide open in the Primerika building next to Los Toros restaurant. On the second patrol the door was still opened so the inside area was patrolled for any suspicious activity. All was empty and quiet so the door was closed but not locked since a key was required. On 2/2/09 at 1:55am in the back alley of the Cowboy Palace Saloon, there were two cars and five guys fighting and throwing bottles at each other. As the patrol officer approached two men started to leave and then the police arrived and the rest scattered. On 2/9/09 at 1:54am there were two homeless men with a van checking all the business trashcans and testing the closed doors to see if they were locked. The patrol man gave them a warning, chased them off, and told them not to come back. On 2/13/09 at 1:17am 7-eleven was spotted having graffiti damage on the rear of the building, it was unknown when this event occurred. On 2/15/09 at 11:55pm, building 21757 Devonshire St. had a business door open. The police were called to check the premises and all was found clear. The door was closed but not locked because it required a key.

MARKETING/PROMOTION:

In the December holiday parade there were 15,000 or so parade visitors along Devonshire Street. All of our stakeholders were advertised in the published parade booklet, and labeled candy canes were given away during and after the parade as extra advertisement for this district. We have updated the Stakeholder information database and website based on the information collected by our Gold Card Team and the city field inspectors who come out annually to check on the district’s businesses and vacancies. If you have not received your member-to-member rewards Gold Card yet, please contact Athena and start saving money now by getting free advertisement and free discounts at local stores. The Gold Card program is a free way of advertising your business with your personal choice of a promotion, service, benefit, and/or discount that will be posted online and can be changed as often as you like.  This card will be given to all Stakeholders and all their employees, which will encourage them to shop within the Chatsworth BID, thus stimulating our local economy.  Another great aspect of this program is its partnership with the Chatsworth/ Porter Ranch Chamber of Commerce. Together we are about 700 businesses strong and the Gold Card participant list is growing every week, with a current count of about 70 businesses that are providing discounts and specials to all members of the BID and the Chatsworth/ Porter Ranch Chamber of Commerce.

Find the Gold Card participant list by logging on to www.ChatsworthBID.com and clicking on to the gold card image. Print this out for you and all of your employees to use.

APRIL AGENDA:

Wednesday April 8, 11:30 AM TO 12:30 PM

Join us at the Board Meeting and Stakeholder Forum at the Chatsworth Train Station Community Conference room every second Wednesday of the month. Come out and participate in your BID. For more information call 818-341-2428.