Old Town La Verne Business Improvement District Agendas

AGENDA Old Town La Verne Business Improvement District Advisory Board Monday, February 5, 2024 – 8:30 am 2316 D Street– Cafe Wang 1. WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER- Board Members City Representatives/Others Present Craig Walters, Chair Eric Scherer, Com. Dev. Director Marianne Stark Natalie Hiatt, Com. Dev. Admin. Secretary Micky Rehm Zuhey Espinoza George Henderson 2. CALENDAR- Cool Cruise Sat. April 6, 2024 – 10am -4pm Wine Walk Sat. April 27, 2024 – 5pm – 8:30pm 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES November 6, 2023 and December 4, 2023 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Election of Officers B. Selection of a Budget Subcommittee C. Café Wang’s Patio Expansion Recommendation D. Wine Walk Update E. Date for Annual Meeting 5. CONTINUED BUSINESS A. 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS/ UPDATES A. City Report (Eric Scherer): B. University Report (Zuhey Espinoza): C. Marketing (Micky Rehm): D. Chamber Report (Leah Skinner): E. Social Media Update (Micky Rehm): F. Financial Report: 7. PUBLIC COMMENT (Any discussion or action on non-agendized items must be deferred to the following meeting, as required by California Brown Act Law) 8. ADJOURNMENT – Monday, March 4, 2024, at 8:30 am at Café Wang – 2316 D Street  OLD TOWN LA VERNE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTIRICT MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING Monday, November 6, 2023 1. WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER Ms. Rehm called the meeting to order at 8:34am. The following board members were present: Marianne Stark, Micky Rehm, and George Henderson. Not Present: Craig Walters and Zuhey Espinoza. City Representatives present: Community Development Director Eric Scherer, Secretary Natalie Hiatt, Community Services Director Yvonne Duran, City Manager Ken Domer, Acting Chief of Police Sam Gonzalez, Sergeant Jay Alvarado, Detective Carlos Flores, and Detective Gabe Chevara. Others present: Cindy Vallejo, Roy Cannizzo, Ken Valmonte, Fang Wang, Maria Faura, Krista Chakmak, Rick Sanders, Mary Forgey, Jim Forgey, and Francisco Ramirez. 2. CALENDAR Cruisin La Verne Car Show Sat. Nov. 18th – 10am – 4pm Holiday Stroll Sat. Dec. 2nd - 3pm-7pm Cool Cruise Sat. April 6, 2024 – 10am-4pm 3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES October 2, 2023 It was moved by Mr. Henderson and seconded by Ms. Stark to approve the minutes for the October 2nd meeting. Motion carried by a 3-0 vote. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Homeless Outreach Services Presentation – Community Services Director Yvonne Duran discussed the unhoused community and the resources available to residents and business owners. The City is partnering with Tri-City and L.A. CADA for non-emergency response. Acting Chief of Police Sam Gonzelez and staff discussed their approach to the unhoused population. Detective Flores recommended completing and filing an annual trespassing form with the department. The form allows for the police department to act as an agent for the business. City Manager Ken Domer discussed crime prevention and announced the new La Verne Link App coming soon. The community will be able to use the app to report issues and submit pictures. B. Halloween Recap – The board agreed that they prefer the event to be held from 2:00pm-5:00pm. 5. CONTINUED BUSINESS A. Holiday Stroll Update – Ms. Rehm stated that John Paddock will be Santa Claus and the trees are scheduled to be decorated Thanksgiving weekend. Entertainment will include the Rockstars of Tomorrow and carolers walking throughout Old Town. Mr. Walters is arranging a petting zoo at Mainiero Square from 3:00pm-5:00pm. In the event of rain Santa photos will most likely move into the building where Nambah Coffee is located. 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS/ UPDATES A. City Report (Eric Scherer): None B. University Report (Cindy Vallejo): Ms. Vallejo stated that the University received neighborhood noise complaints. Dr. Zuhey is working on addressing the issues. C. Marketing (Micky Rehm): Ms. Rehm stated that the Holiday Stroll postcard was mailed, and they are advertising event on social media. D. Chamber Report (Leah Skinner): None E. Social Media Update (Micky Rehm): None F. Financial Report: None 7. PUBLIC COMMENT (Any discussion or action on non-agendized items must be deferred to the following meeting, as required by California Brown Act Law) Ms. Faura of A Place in Time stated that an attorney filed an ADA lawsuit against their business. She warned that other business owners may fall victim to similar lawsuits. 8. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m., the next regular meeting to be held on Monday, December 4, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. at Café Wang Restaurant. Respectively submitted, _____________________ Natalie Hiatt  OLD TOWN LA VERNE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING Monday, December 4, 2023 The meeting began without a quorum at 8:30 a.m. Advisory Board Members present: Craig Walters and Micky Rehm. City Representative present: Community Development Director Eric Scherer and Secretary Natalie Hiatt. Others present: Fang Wang, Ken Valmonte, and Mia Valdez. As there was no quorum, no official business was conducted. There was general discussion about Holiday Stroll and Wine Walk. The meeting ended at 9:05 a.m. Respectively submitted, _____________________ Natalie Hiatt 1 Eric Scherer From: cafewang2017@gmail.com Sent: Thursday, December 7, 2023 2:32 PM To: Eric Scherer Cc: Natalie Hiatt Subject: Re: Cafe Wang Patio Hi Eric, Thank you for the opportunity to share our thoughts with you and the BID Board regarding the patio. We would like to ask the Board to consider allowing us to keep the patio indefinitely. There are several reasons for this, here are just a few: 1. Provides customers with outdoor dining options. Many customers have told us that they really enjoy the choice to be able to eat outdoors, which adds to the ambience and overall experience of coming to Old Town. As you know, most of the dining establishments in Old Town have an outdoor patio (Chase's,4th St. Mill, Lordsburg, House of Wings, Caffe Allegro, House of Wings, Aoki, Warehouse Pizza & Mi Cocina). 2. Live music. Since its construction, many bands have had an opportunity to perform on the patio on Fridays and Saturdays. We have received lots of feedback from customers and passersby that the outdoor entertainment creates and vibrant energy and festive mood. Music and food have a way of bringing together people of all walks of life. In many cases, followers of the bands come to Old Town for the very first time. And while they might have come initially to see the band, they often walk around and visit some the surrounding shops. They in turn become return visitors to Old Town for other businesses. It's that type of synergy between the business in Old Town that make it a special place. As we have seen over the past couple seasons, more establishments have made live music a part of the overall dining experience (Chase's,4thSt Mill, Taberna/Passport, Namba, Mi Cocina and Lordsburg). 3. Investment. The patio design was more than just about creating space, it was also about creating an experience and an ambience for the community. Significant investment was made to create an appealing, eye-catching design. With the addition of the pergola and lanterns we wanted to create distinctly Asian theme and unique look. Additional investments were made for the tables, chairs and heaters. Being able to keep the patio indefinitely will allow us to not only preserve that investment but give us an opportunity to build upon and enhance it further, for now and into the future. 4. Future planning. The City has completed several upgrades to the corridor that leads to and from the future La Verne train station. It's seemed far in the distant future when we were still operating under COVID protocols and the approval for the patio was granted. And yet now, we are possibly just over a year from its opening. Undoubtedly the influx of additional visitors to Old Town will create several challenges for the City Council, ULV, Business Owners and Residents. But if we work together collectively and get this right, Old Town will transcend beyond the special place it already is, as the potential for an increased economic boost for the entire district is enormous. With a large influx of daily visitors anticipated, the patio allows us to preserve the additional capacity for potential customer growth. 1 In closing, we have been very grateful and thankful for all the support we have received from the Board since becoming part of the Old Town family in 2018. And what a ride it has been. Mix in a couple years of COVID, and now the current challenges of inflation, increased labor costs, and a slowing economy and no doubt none of us as business owners have been spared these challenges. But through all this, the Board and the City have been a steady hand in guiding us through tumultuous times. The patio to us is more than just pieces of wood nailed together, it represents the evolution of Cafe Wang and Sweet Time. Over the past 2 years it has become part of and identity with our customers and the community. With your vote, we hope will allow us to maintain that identity well into the future. Thank you, Fang and Ken On Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 05:52:53 PM PST, Eric Scherer <escherer@cityoflaverne.org> wrote: Hi Ken and Fang: In anticipation of the special BID meeting to discuss your patio, I would like you to provide me, in writing, what you would like to propose to the Board. Are you interested in an extension for a specific amount of time or indefinitely? In your request, you should indicate why the patio is important to the business. Also, you should know that if allowed to keep the patio, it is expected that you would be required to start paying rent for the space after February 2024. The current monthly lease rate is $0.691 per s.f. of outdoor area used for the patio. The patio is 943 s.f. in size, resulting in a monthly lease payment of $651.62. In addition, you will be required to pay the one- time parking in-lieu fee ($1,000 per required parking space – Patios require one space for every 150 s.f., thus 6.3 spaces which round up to 7 spaces, thus, $7,000) for the expanded patio space if it is determined that the patio can remain indefinitely. Please let me know if you have any questions. If you can have your request to me by Thursday afternoon, I would appreciate it. -Eric This email has been scanned for spam and viruses by Proofpoint Essentials. Click here to report this email as spam. 2