Clabe Hartley, owner of Cow’s End Café in Venice, will often fend off transients outside his two-story coffee shop, which sits just a few steps from the beach. But on a recent Saturday, one man was behaving more aggressively toward customers. After trying to shoo him away, things quickly escalated: Hartley was attacked and bitten, losing the tip of his left ring finger.
It was the latest in a string of violent acts that have pushed business and property owners to jumpstart their campaign to create a business improvement district in Venice, something that’s been discussed for years but has never come to be.
Hartley said safety has become a primary concern for businesses in the beachfront neighborhood.
“We had homeless people, we had bums, we had drunks,” he said. “But they weren’t like today. They weren’t violent.”
Venice has long been known as a counterculture haven, home to a multitude of characters including bikers, surfers and artists. But business owners say the area’s free spirit has become a little too unrestrained lately, as owners increasingly find themselves taking on the role of security guards.
Local business owners have long discussed the need to create a BID – a private business-funded outfit that provides extra security and other services – but now they’re getting organized: A group of property owners late last year hired a BID formation consultant, then the most concrete step toward forming a district.
The consultant, who declined to speak on record with the Business Journal, said it’s too early in the stage to name what areas of Venice might be included in a new BID, but proponents plan to start reaching out to business and property owners within the next six months.
George Francisco, co-chair of the Venice Neighborhood Council’s Business Committee, said there has been talk of creating a BID for some time. He has lived in the neighborhood for more than 20 years and agrees that something should be done to revitalize it.
“There needs to be an apparatus to have some return of taxable income to the community,” Francisco said. “People are entitled to walk on sidewalks without tripping, access to public restrooms and garbage cans.”
Safety first
Business improvement districts are typically financed one of two ways: either property owners or business owners within its boundaries pay an additional levy to support its efforts. The consultant said most of the property owners supporting Venice’s BID are interested in a property-based assessment.
Before moving ahead with formation, BID proponents must get approval from the Los Angeles City Clerk’s Office. With that approval, property owners totaling 41 percent of the square footage within the proposed district must sign a petition agreeing to its formation. Then the petition goes to a vote among property owners with the outcome decided by a simple majority.
A spokesman for City Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents the area, declined comment other than to say the office is generally supportive of the idea.
The BID consultant said business owners want an organization that will focus primarily on security rather than beautification or marketing – services provided by some BIDs, such as Downtown Santa Monica Inc., which markets that city’s Third Street Promenade shopping district.
Tom Elliott, co-owner of restaurants Venice Ale House and Bank of Venice, is aware of the talk and said many BID supporters are hoping the proposed district’s boundaries would encompass the length of the Venice Boardwalk and everything between the boardwalk and Pacific Avenue.
He emphasized that the plan isn’t to turn Venice into downtown Santa Monica – a concern shared by other local residents and business owners who want the neighborhood to maintain its funky vibe.
“Very few like that idea,” Elliott said. “Most people want a balanced approach to growth.”
He’d like a BID that would hire private security to help monitor the pedestrian-filled sidewalks and keep altercations from escalating – as they did at Cow’s End. He’d also like Venice to have “ambassadors” who can help guide the millions of tourists that flow through the area every year.
Like Hartley of Cow’s End, Elliott said he’s also had his fair share of run-ins with transients and homeless people, some of whom act aggressively toward his customers and even deter potential business from coming to his restaurant.
“Venice has no problem being creative, cool and unique, but everyone wants it to be in a healthy, positive way that doesn’t foster crime and rampant drug use,” Elliott said. “Venice is literally the place where all the homeless come. And it’s the last stop of every transient.”
But Hartley, despite becoming the poster child for why Venice might need a BID, is skeptical that one would make the neighborhood much safer.
“I’m not convinced it would work here,” he said. “The reason for that is (private security) doesn’t have any power. They can’t do anything. They can’t arrest anybody. Where private security works best is in private areas like shopping malls.”
He believes Venice could find a better way to resolve its safety issues without putting the burden on property and business owners. He wants the Los Angeles Police Department to have more resources so that it could do more in Venice.
“I don’t want to let our city think that it’s truly not their responsibility to begin with,” he said.
While Hartley is not yet convinced a BID will do the area much good, he said he’s still open to the idea. He feels something has to be done soon. If nothing happens, he thinks crime will eventually cut down on the number of tourists – and locals – that frequent Venice businesses.
“This finger of mine is known about all over the world,” he said, citing reports about his attack in media outlets from Australia to Bora Bora. “And I want to tell people that this is not what our community is about. This is a rare occurrence, but nonetheless, it’s there and we are trying to work to minimize this.”
