Community Board 3 voted almost overwhelmingly Tuesday in favor of the creation of a business improvement district for Chinatown, according to an article in this week's edition of The Villager by Lesley Sussman.

The proposal still needs to be approved by the City Planning Commission and the City Council.

"The board meeting was marred by disruptions and a walkout by opponents who believe the BID plan would incur financial hardship for local small businesses," the article continued, adding that the vote was "hailed as a victory by members of the Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation's BID Steering Committee that had already won approval for its plan from Community Boards1 and 2.

Patrick Yau, executive director of the First American International Bank and a steering committee member, said he was very pleased with the support, stating that "this BID project is very important to the future of Chinatown."

The C.B. 3 vote was also touted as a "historic moment for Chinatown" by City Councilmember Margaret Chin, a longtime advocate for the BID plan. "Now three community boards support the plan," she said. "So it's connecting all three neighborhoods. It's historic and unprecedented because all the businesspeople in Chinatown will be working together with the different communities. It's a great start."

"The Chinatown Partnership L.D.C., a civic association that believes Chinatown's top community need is sanitation, followed by jobs and affordable housing, is seeking a BID designation because funding provided by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in a program known as "Clean Streets" is about to run out," the article said, noting that "for the past three years, this program has paid for extra street cleaning and garbage pickup."

Properties owned and occupied by nonprofit groups, generally, would not pay any assessment fees. At least 50 percent of property owners in the proposed district must approve of the plan, though generally BID's are only started when there is much more substantial support.

The protest was organized by the Chinese Staff and Workers Association, the article said, and featured a coalition of property owners, businessmen and residents who have accused the Chinatown Partnership of misusing funds and not caring about working people in the neighborhood - charges the Partnership and other civic leaders have vigorously denied.

What particularly infuriated protesters was a request by C.B. 3 Chairperson Dominic Pisciotta that those who were for or against the BID plan stand up so that he could get a better idea of who was who at the meeting.

The final vote on the BID also included several amendments. C.B. 3 board members said they wanted included in the plan a promise that when a BID board is formed it would review its activities and canvass the Chinatown community every three years.

Board members also asked that parks in the BID area be excluded from BID regulations and remain public. The proposed BID's boundaries are currently being defined as Broome St. on the north; Broadway on the west; Allen and Rutgers Sts. on the east; and White, Worth and Madison Sts. on the south. C.B. 3 also recommended that the future BID board pay people engaged in cleaning work a "living wage," as currently being proposed by the City Council.

The Council's "living wage" bill would force developers and anyone else who receives subsidies from the city's Economic Development Corporation and Industrial Development Agency to pay their workers at least $10 an hour with benefits and $11.50 an hour without benefits.

An article by Amanda Fung at crains.com yesterday said that Community Boards 1 and 2 approved the proposed BID a week ago, adding that a City Planning department hearing on the proposed BID is expected to take place on Jan. 26 and a final vote is scheduled for Feb. 16.

The city now has 64 BIDs, the article noted.