The Santa Clarita City Council offered a helping hand and a mea culpa on Tuesday to nearly three dozen Bouquet Canyon business owners hurt by a road closure approved in 2020, which cut off significant traffic to their businesses.
The Santa Clarita City Council unanimously approved a support program with $640,000, with a $35,000 per-business limit, which is intended to reduce: the potential for business closures; prolonged commercial vacancies and blight; and increased vehicle miles traveled, according to city staff.
The owners who’ve spoken out are hopeful the work will be completed within the 11-month timeline they were promised in February, and that they can stay open until then.
The closure of Bouquet Canyon Road at David Way was approved to facilitate a floodplain expansion, which is necessary for Lennar to develop 375 for-sale homes just north of the closure.
The closure’s effects, which were anticipated by the business owners and their neighbors, were devastating, especially for the proprietors of restaurants and retail locations there.
“These businesses, of course, they didn’t choose to have disruption,” said Mayor Pro Tem Patsy Ayala, who was one of two council members, along with Jason Gibbs, who were not in office when the closure was approved. “They employ our neighbors. They are part of our community. I support their assistance, and I want the process to be simple enough to do the application.”
Ayala also mentioned oversight and ensuring city staff follow up on all necessary paperwork to prevent abuse.
There are 38 total commercial units and 33 businesses between the two shopping centers, according to Tyler Pledger, the city’s economic development manager, who has led the support effort.
After more than six months of residents asking the City Council to look out for the business owners in two shopping centers just south of the closure, the council ordered the staff to create an assistance program in July.
Pledger presented the plan city staff devised at Tuesday’s meeting.
“The proposed program is intended to provide temporary, prospective financial assistance to eligible businesses experiencing documented economic hardship during the Bouquet Canyon Road closure,” according to the city’s agenda report.
To qualify for assistance, a business would be required to be a for-profit entity in the eligible centers; have operated continuously at the location for at least 12 months prior to the road closure; provide financial documentation demonstrating a measurable revenue decline during the closure, such as federal tax returns, payroll records, sales tax reports, and bank statements; and be solvent and in good standing.
Those who qualify are eligible for one of several tiers of assistance the city created. For example, a business that can demonstrate a decline of up to 10% of revenue will be able to qualify to have 10% of its eligible, fixed-cost expenses covered, such as rent, utilities and insurance, for up to $35,000. The greater the losses demonstrated, the greater the eligibility for assistance for anticipated loss, per the city’s chart.
In considering approval of the plan, Councilwoman Marsha McLean took a moment to acknowledge a mistake by the city in November 2020, when the plan was approved.
“At the time we were looking at this project, we actually should have set a condition that Lennar take some responsibility for the businesses that were going to be impacted — but we did not,” she said, referring to the nation’s second-largest homebuilder by volume. “So therefore, we do have a responsibility to help out.”
She did say she had concerns that the grants only benefit a small portion of the city, asking City Manager Ken Striplin if that creates a question of fairness or a problem for the city’s contingency fund, which is paying for the program.
Striplin said neither is problematic. Grants to specifically target the economic vitality of an area are acceptable, and the funding will be re-allocated in the contingency fund as part of next year’s budget.
The program’s approval earned one response during public comment, a “thank you” from Saugus resident Valerie Bradford, who shared her gratitude with several of the impacted business owners standing behind her at the podium.
