If you own a business along Bouquet Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, help is on the way. The Santa Clarita City Council voted unanimously this week to approve a $640,000 assistance program for the roughly 33 businesses in two commercial corridors along the road, which has been closed for an extended construction project that’s cut off much of their regular customer traffic.
Of that total, $590,000 will go directly to eligible businesses, with the remaining $50,000 covering a third-party administrator to run the program. Individual grants will top out at $35,000 per business, and can cover up to 50% of eligible fixed operating costs — rent, utilities, insurance, and payroll — over a six-month stretch. To qualify, a business needs to have operated at its current Bouquet Canyon location for at least 12 months before the closure began.
Council member Bill Miranda didn’t mince words about the urgency: “These people need relief, and they need it quickly. Get the money to the people.” Mayor Pro Tem Patsy Ayala struck a similar note but flagged the need for guardrails, saying the application process should be “accessible to applicants, strong enough to prevent misuse of taxpayer money.”
It’s a useful case study for any LA-area business owner, not just those directly affected. Road construction, utility work, and infrastructure projects are a fact of life across the region — from Metro extensions to water main repairs — and they can hit small storefronts hard even when the disruption is temporary and well-intentioned. Santa Clarita’s response offers a template other cities might follow: pair a construction timeline with real, dollar-for-dollar relief for the businesses caught in the middle, rather than leaving them to absorb the loss alone.
For business owners anywhere in the greater LA area dealing with a nearby closure, detour, or construction project, it’s worth checking with your city council office or local chamber of commerce to see whether a similar assistance program exists or could be requested. Documenting revenue loss during a disruption, before you need it, can make the difference if relief funding does become available.
Source: KHTS Santa Clarita News
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