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News & Features
From the Idyllwild Town Crier weekly newspaper, 04.15.10 edition.
IBRT examines business
district for Idyllwild
By Marshall Smith, Staff
Reporter
At a Wednesday, April 7 meeting at Café Aroma, members of the Idyllwild Business Roundtable (IBRT) agreed to gather business owners’ signatures and forward a letter of intent about forming a Business Improvement District (BID) to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors — a preliminary first step toward getting county designation as a BID. Business owners can view supporting materials and sign the letter of intent at Spruce Moose in the Fort. “Rather than keep this process closed and under [a particular group or individual’s] control, we decided to go in the opposite direction and make it totally transparent to the entire community,” said IBRT spokesperson Doug Yagaloff.
BIDs, already active in Palm Springs, Temecula, and the wider Coachella Valley, are special benefit assessment districts that allow an area or municipality to levy a tax within a defined geographic area to bolster tourism, improve the financial health of those businesses, promote economic revitalization and physical maintenance of the district, create jobs, attract new businesses and prevent the erosion of the business district.
Normally, BIDs are publicly sanctioned. Since Idyllwild is unincorporated, the Board of Supervisors will approve it if there is local support. An elected local board will still direct it. That board, in regular consultation with district businesses, administers assessments and directs spending for the benefit of the business community. Often that means employing a full-time executive director — someone who knows how to effectively access and work county, tribal and other organizational structures to the best advantage of the local district.
Assessments — in the form of add-ons to nightly lodging charges or annual flat fees on business licenses for other kinds of businesses, or some combination — finance the district’s operations. The county collects the funds and the local district’s board authorizes their use.
Although county leaders believe formation of an Idyllwild BID needs to be a grass-roots effort, they also voice support for this concept as a way to energize and revitalize Idyllwild business, especially in the event that a Historical District is created. Yagaloff said at the meeting that it would be unfortunate if a Historical District were formed and lacked a funding base and professional marketing effort to promote it.
After their submission of the letter of intent to Third District Supervisor Jeff Stone, IBRT is planning three business community forums. At the first, county representatives would explain BIDs, their benefits and their creation process. Next, they would like Palm Springs representatives, who both supported and opposed the Main Street BID, to talk to Idyllwild business owners. The third meeting would invite representatives from Temecula to share their views, successes and problems.
Following that, a BID steering committee would be formed to begin the steps, both educational and procedural, to move this idea forward. Visit www.idy4u.com/idybid for information and regular updates on formation steps an Idyllwild BID newsletter announcing meetings and progress to date and a Q and A section. Register onsite to receive it.
Bus tours
At the April 1 IBRT meeting, representatives from Celebrity Tours (CT) of Palms Springs discussed beginning regular trips to Idyllwild. CT President Tim Bannister and Marketing Director Kathy Bates presented the possibility and offered suggestions of how local business owners could maximize bus tour effectiveness.
Bannister suggested targeting the late spring and summer months for the first Palm Springs to Idyllwild loop. Since his regular desert tours occur in the morning, buses would be free for an Idyllwild afternoon to early evening trip once a week or whatever traffic and interest might merit.
“We could have the bus here [in Idyllwild] from 2 to 5 in the afternoon or into the evening dinner hour on a regular schedule for which local businesses could plan and market,” said Bannister. Besides arranging the tours, he had suggestions how area businesses could optimize desert tourists’ Idyllwild experience. “They could provide coupons and incentives to desert shoppers and diners and create a map highlighting the establishments offering those benefits,” Bannister suggested. He also recommended IBRT create a three-part Idyllwild tour menu to appeal to tourists of different inclinations— for instance a shopping and dining menu; a hiking/Humber Park menu; or a nature center/historical society opportunity to guarantee a full bus.
“Each bus has an onboard escort,” said Bannister. “You [Idyllwild business owners] could have the Idyllwild materials [maps, coupons, discounts, sightseeing opportunities] in hand for escorts to discuss with passengers on the bus trip up.” Bannister also mentioned the opportunity for placing a traveling advertisement for Idyllwild on the back of the bus
IBRT participant Gary Budnick is testing the waters for the other direction — taking signups for an Idyllwild busload to attend the Thursday night Village Fest Street Fair in Palm Springs. If successful, Budnick said tours to the Temecula wine country and area casinos could follow.
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