Peninsula business leaders say the number of storefront vacancies in the Peninsula signal tough economic times resulting from the natural ebb and flow of repeating business cycles. So to help support businesses in and around the Peninsula, the Point Loma Chamber of Commerce is courting the idea of creating a Business Improvement District (BID) for the Point Loma area, said Jarod Gorla, director of business improvement for the Peninsula Chamber. “It [BID] creates marketing dollars to pressure-wash streets … and make the area look nice and then also pump money into marketing and advertising, putting up lights and just making it a place that people want to go to and stay,” Gorla said. A BID raises money through a fee on business licenses issued by the city for a specific area. The BID submits receipts to the city for reimbursement of funds the city and state collect. Matt Kalla, president of the Peninsula Chamber, said a BID created by Peninsula property owners would help provide additional direction for the business and residential community in Point Loma. “A lot of different organizations are … working on a common goal yet aren’t communicating with each other,” he said. He said groups like North Bay Redevelopment Agency, Point Loma People for Progress — a community organization spawned from Liberty Station development — the Peninsula Community Planning Board and a North Bay BID all have similar business interests. He said a Point Loma BID would be a resource for the different groups. Peninsula Chamber of Commerce members pay $80 a year for access to networking mixers and other member benefits, he said. BID fees range depending on location but some business can pay more than $90 in fees. Several communities — some more recently than others — have already established BIDs, including Little Italy, Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach. The Ocean Beach BID, established by the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association (OBMA), was one of the earliest in 1978, according to officials. Denny Knox, executive director of OBMA, said some vacancies along Newport Avenue and surrounding areas are due to periodic business cycles in Ocean Beach. “In the ’70s we had 40 percent vacancies at one time,” she said. “We have nothing like that [now]. If you count it up, it’s a very small percentage.” A stroll through Newport Avenue and around Ocean Beach reveals about five empty storefronts. Some of them remain vacant because of market forces, she said. Despite a lagging national economy, Knox remains optimistic about Ocean Beach’s local economy. “A vast majority of our businesses are run by people who are realistic and they really do understand business, and I believe they will make the necessary changes to weather the storm,” she said.