By TR Robertson
Lamppost Pizza was the location selected last Tuesday for a meeting with around 25 members of the Central Vista Business Improvement District looking into the process for allocation of funds for various yearly projects. In 2019, the Vista City Council established the Central Vista Business Improvement District specifically to assist in the continued development of Downtown Historical Vista and areas closely associated and provide a variety of projects and activities designed to bring business and interest in this area.
Don Hein, Owner/General Manager of Little Cakes Cupcake Kitchen, made a presentation centered around how the money awarded and designated for a variety of grants selected each year is selected. The current process involves different businesses submission of grant applications, available online at the City of Vista web site, and the selection by a seven CVBID member Advisory Committee allowed to make recommendations for approval or denial. Hein would like to recommend that CVBID members be allowed to have more access to advise the Advisory Committee about the selection process and businesses selected. He also brought up questions about the Mission Statement of the CVBID and how the money is currently being allocated to projects that have been granted money. He also raised concerns as to whether funds should still be collected from businesses to support these various projects that have been selected. He said in an email to CVBID members, “The Goal is to gather stakeholder’s thoughts, form recommendations and then bring them to the Advisory Board which is responsible for determining in what way these funds are used.” Questions and discussions from those in attendance followed the presentation. A year end CVBID Budget of grants, expenses and other items was presented for the group to look at.
Currently, around $49,000 is collected each year to go along with funds given to CVBID from the City of Vista to support the projects selected. Fees are assessed to each business in the three zones
From the www.DowntownVista.org web site: The Central Vista Business Improvement District (CVBID) is an area in downtown Vista in which business owners pay an assessment fee that goes toward programs, events and marketing to attract people to Downtown Vista. The activities of the CVBID are overseen by the CVBID Advisory Board, seven business owners appointed by City Council. Administration of the CVBID is overseen by City staff. Each year, the businesses collectively create a fund of about $50,000. This money is overseen by the CVBID Advisory Board.
From the www.Cityofvista.com/business/economicdevelopment
CVBID Work Plan
The CVBID Advisory Board allocates the CVBID funds toward programs, events and marketing activities that accomplish the following:
General promotion of business activities
Promotion of public events
Decoration of public places
Furnishing music for public places/events
Acquisition, construction, installation and/or maintenance of improvements
Other operating activities
Economic Development Department
City of Vista
200 Civic Center Drive, Vista, CA 92084
Business Resource Hotline: 760.639.6165 Business License Questions: 760.639.6174
Larry Vaupel
Economic Development Director
E: lvaupel@cityofvista.com
Have questions? If you are a business owner inside the district and are curious about how much your assessment is, or if you have general questions, please contact the Economic Development Department at 760.643.5243.
Learn about the downtown and follow the CVBID on their social media
• Instagram @DowntownVistaCA
• Facebook @DowntownVista
• Twitter @DowntownVistaCA
CVBID Grant Program Application
Some of the Grants allocated in 2023 included:
Discover Vista/Vista Village Business Association – Rod Run – $15,000
Discover Vista/Vista Village Business Association – Fright Night – $5,000
Discover Vista/Vista Village Business Association – Winterfest – $5,000
Public Lemon – Food Truck Fridays – $5,000
Guadalupe Brewery – Vista Blues Christmas – $4,000
Bricke Brothers – Toy Machine HOV Anniversary – $2,000
If you have a business within the CVBIB guidelines and want to apply for a grant for a project for this area go online to www.cityofvista.com/business/economic-development .
