Laguna Beach City Council Approves $1.4 Million in Assistance

Laguna Beach, CA – On December 22, 2020, the Laguna Beach City Council approved a $850,000 Grant Program, “LB CARES”, from City reserves to assist restaurants, bars and retail businesses experiencing impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant program will provide direct financial assistance to these businesses and organizations by offering a $5,000 grant per qualifying restaurant or bar and $2,000 - $3,000 grant per qualifying retailer, on a first come, first served, basis

LB CARES* is a one-time grant relief program for restaurants, bars and retail doing business within the City of Laguna Beach. To qualify:

• Restaurants and bars must have been ordered to change operations to take-out and delivery only, or to close
• Retailers must have been ordered to reduce their capacity to 20% (eligible to receive $2,000) or to close (eligible to receive $3,000)
• Businesses must be located in Laguna Beach and have a Laguna Beach business license
• Applicants must confirm that they have experienced a hardship due to COVID-19 closures and restrictions
• Businesses must confirm that they are complying and pledge to continue complying with all State and local orders

“The Economic Assistance Program approved by the City Council tonight provides an essential lifeline to our local businesses who have been severely impacted by the pandemic,” said Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen. “A direct assistance program like this is a first for the City but these are unprecedented times demanding new approaches and decisive action. Our objective in approving this program is to help keep our restaurants and retailers going until they can apply for additional assistance through county, state and federal programs in early 2021.”

LB CARES grant applications will be accepted for a two-week period beginning December 23, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. Eligible businesses may apply until January 5, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. with awarded grants anticipated to be received by January 8, 2021. Grants will be awarded up to the funding amount of $850,000 on a first-come, first-served, basis. Go to www.lagunabeachcity.net/LBCares for program details and to apply.

“These local businesses are a part of the local charm that we all enjoy and value in Laguna and it is a smart use of City dollars to help them survive,” Whalen said. “The City Council is pleased to be in a position to provide some help. We urge all of our residents to support our local businesses by shopping locally, ordering takeout, and buying gift cards from our local restaurants and merchants. 2020 has been beyond challenging but better days are ahead in 2021.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council also took action and approved $300,000 to be set aside as a matching grant for the Laguna Beach Community Foundation for a COVID-19 Relief Fund to provide assistance to residents and employees working in Laguna Beach.

“The $300,000 in matching funds approved by the City Council tonight to assist local residents and employees hard hit by the pandemic will provide much needed assistance to the neediest in our community,” Whalen said. “I am appreciative of the unanimous City Council support on tonight’s actions. I would like to thank Councilmembers Weiss and Iseman for leading the way on the matching grant part of the plan and Mayor Pro Tem Kempf and Councilmember Blake for their help in designing the details of the economic assistance to businesses. It was a real team effort that will make a difference in our community.”

New Laguna Beach Business Assistance Services Program

In conjunction with LB Cares, the City of Laguna Beach is also pleased to announce the launch of the Laguna Beach Business Assistance Services Program. This new program is being established to help local businesses and non-profits access available resources offered by state, federal, and county government, help determine the best resources to meet each business’ unique circumstance, and to help businesses with the process of preparing and submitting applications. These services will be made completely FREE to all Laguna Beach small businesses.

The Business Assistance Services Program plans to hold a virtual webinar in early January. For more information on the services offered by the program please visit the program’s website at www.lagunabeachcity.net/BusinessAssistance.

Funding for Non-Profits and Cultural Arts Grant Programs

The City also provides grants to non-profits and arts organizations annually from Festival or Arts (FOA) rent revenue and Business Improvement District revenues. Since the City has not received any revenue from FOA in 2020, the City Council appropriated $250,000 Tuesday from the General Fund Reserve to fund the Community Assistance Grant program in 2021 and expedite the program to spring of 2021 instead of June 2021. In addition, $200,000 in funding will be made available to provide Cultural Arts Grants in 2021.

For more information on these Economic Assistance Programs, please contact Project Manager Jeremy Frimond at (949) 464-6673 or jfrimond@lagunabeachcity.net.

*City Employees, Elected officials and their immediate family are not eligible for the LB CARES program. Eligible restaurants and bars may not be part of a national franchise. Eligible retailers may not be part of a national chain.