Article 1. Declarations of California Streets And Highways Code >> Division 18. >> Part 6. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 1.

This part shall be known and may be cited as the "Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989."

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that businesses located and operating within the business districts of this state's communities are economically disadvantaged, are underutilized, and are unable to attract customers due to inadequate facilities, services, and activities in the business districts.
  (b) The Legislature also finds and declares that it is in the public interest to promote the economic revitalization and physical maintenance of the business districts of its cities in order to create jobs, attract new businesses, and prevent erosion of the business districts.
  (c) The Legislature also finds that it is of particular local benefit to allow cities to fund property related improvements and activities through the levy of assessments upon the businesses which benefit from those improvements and activities.
  (d) The Legislature also finds and declares that tourism is a large and growing contributor to California's economy, and that promotion of a city's or county's scenic, recreational, cultural, and other attractions as a tourist destination is an important public purpose.
  (e) The Legislature also finds and declares that assessments levied for the purpose of providing improvements and promoting activities which benefit individual businesses may also benefit the property within the area directly or indirectly and that those assessments are not taxes for the general benefit of a city, but are assessments for the improvements and activities which confer special benefits upon the businesses for which the improvements and activities are provided.

The purpose of this part is to recodify and supplant previously enacted provisions of law which authorize cities to levy assessments on businesses within a parking and business improvement area and to provide a uniform procedure to levy assessments for improvements and activities of businesses located and operating in a business district of a city. This part does not affect or limit any other provisions of law authorizing or providing for the furnishing of improvements or activities or the raising of revenue for these purposes. In addition, this part is intended to provide a method for financing public programs to attract tourist visits to areas where tourism is economically important and desired.

Any provision of this part which conflicts with any other provision of law shall prevail over the other provision of law.

This part is intended to be construed liberally and, if any provision is held invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. If the provisions of this part respecting the levying of assessments are held invalid in any area within which assessments have been levied pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 36530), the assessments shall be reimposed in an identical amount and upon the same businesses as a matter of law and no lapse in the levy of any assessment shall be deemed to have occurred. Assessments levied under this part are not special taxes.