A group of citizens and city officials are moving forward with plans to clean up troublesome business in Tacoma. The P.R.O.A.C.T.I.V.E. Business Licensing team, part of Tacoma’s Safe and Clean initiative, already has developed a complex provisional license program for landlords who let their properties go to pot, or crack, or mold, or piles of garbage. Next on its list of business classes to clean up is clubs. The amazingly acronymic group will hold a public meeting Monday, Feb. 9 at Tacoma Police Headquarters to let the people have their say.



Let’s get that monster of an acronym out of the way first. P.R.O.A.C.T.I.V.E. — Providing Resource Opportunities Advocating City of Tacoma’s Ideal Visionary Environment. Translation: city officials are trying to change the perception that responses to troubled businesses are too often after the fact. They hope to do so by creating city ordinances and programs that will help avert common problems.

“We’ve always said we’re too reactive when there are problems,” says City of Tacoma’s Finance Tax and Licensing Division Manager Jodie Trueblood, who says the P.R.O.A.C.T.I.V.E. concept arose from discussions between local police. “Originally, it was pretty much a group of police officers that was concerned about certain businesses that caused certain kinds of problems, which created more problems for them. We wanted to come up with a plan that would lead to some long-term solutions.”



The team has already developed a provisional licensing program for apartment and other multi-family housing complexes that run afoul of city codes or become host to rampant criminal activity, for example. The group worked with housing associations, citizens and local officials to craft a provisional license that would allow lax landlords to keep their business open while they fixed problems. The group came up with a list of so-called triggers — things like too many people selling crack, or toxic mold infestations, or a dirty front yard. Under normal circumstances, it can become expensive and time consuming to enforce laws designed to keep neighborhoods clean, especially in a city where these sorts of issues are still rampant and resources are tight. But under a plan crafted by the P.R.O.A.C.T.I.V.E. team, businesses have a choice — pay for an additional business license for each apartment or housing unit, clean them all up, and face a review, or get shut down. If property owners clean up their act, they don’t have to renew the provisional license, and life goes on.



With one problem down, the P.R.O.A.C.T.I.V.E. team is set to tackle another — troubled clubs. Currently in the brainstorming stage, provisions for clubs could include having a security plan approved prior to opening a new club, background checks and training for bouncers … ahem … security personnel, and applying design standards aimed at maximizing security. If applied, most of the new provisions would be folded into the city’s existing cabaret license, rather than foisting another damn business license on city nightclub owners.



Local officials also are looking at creating an association of club owners, citizens and city officials — much like the Chamber’s Business Improvement Area — that would encourage businesses and others to work together perpetually, as opposed to just when they’re feeling annoyed. Downtown and Sixth Avenue are the hotspots, says Trueblood, and would be the first likely candidates for such a program.



“We’re really trying to avoid having to shut down nightclubs,” says Trueblood, whose son just happens to be Jesse Bynum from Sons of Ivan. “At this point, we don’t have a set agenda.”