All Businesses on Lincoln Avenue to be Eligible for County Funds

All businesses on Lincoln Avenue will be eligible for storefront improvements funds from the county if the Board of Supervisors passes a $320,000 improvement plan on Tuesday's meeting.

We reported Friday on the funds that will become available for businesses to get new signs and other storefront improvements if the motion is passed.  Below are some more details on the program from Cordé Carrillo and Matt Lust  of the county' Community Development Commission:

• All interested businesses in Altadena on Lincoln Avenue are eligible. If all were to apply the funds might not be sufficient, but the commission would request more funding if that were to happen.  Carrillo said it would be a "happy situation" to see that much interest in the program and would not be concerned about making sure there was enough funding to go around.
• The program is similar to another project on Fair Oaks Avenue that took place from 2008 to 2011 and resulted in 17 businesses getting work done.
• The goal would be to get the work done faster than in the Fair Oaks program, according to Lust.  Ideally, he said, he'd like to see it completed within a year
• The program will be administered by a local non-profit, the Alta-Pasa Community Improvement Center.  That group will do outreach and make decisions on construction and other project decisions.
• The improvements were originally planned as a redevelopment project until redevelopment agency funds across the state were eliminated and redistributed to school districts and other agencies.  The funds will now come from county general funds that are slated for economic redevelopment, according to Carrillo.