HUD Gives $4 Million in Riot Aid : Recovery: Seven cities and L.A. County will use the federal funds to spur economic development.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) doled out $4 million Monday to Los Angeles County, the city of Los Angeles and six other local communities to help spur economic development in areas affected by the riots.

Los Angeles officials will use some of the city’s $1 million grant to develop alternative business opportunities for liquor store owners. The county, meanwhile, hopes to coordinate the many public and private groups involved in the rebuilding effort with its $1-million award.

The money was taken from an urban development fund that would have been awarded competitively to cities across the nation, but was instead designated specifically for communities that suffered damage during last spring’s riots, said Alfred A. DelliBovi, deputy secretary of housing and urban development.

Besides the $1 million each in awards to the city and county, Long Beach will get $491,228 and Compton, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Lynwood and Pasadena will receive $280,702 each. Pomona was turned down for funding because HUD said city officials did not show that the community suffered significant riot damage.

Countywide, an estimated 5,200 structures valued at $735 million were destroyed or damaged during the riots. The city of Los Angeles suffered about $427 million in damage, according to a state estimate.

Federal officials have been criticized since the riots for announcing “riot-related” grants that had actually been slated for the area before the unrest. But officials in several cities said this latest round of grant money materialized after the verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating case.

“It’s not coming from another pot that we would have had access to,” said Tim Iverson, Compton’s economic development director. “I’m pleased because it’s more than we had, but we really need more.”

DelliBovi said the grants, which are small by HUD standards, will provide local governments with technical assistance in setting up economic development projects. He said such grants often result in significant projects. But because the money is meant for planning, he acknowledged, “sometimes the expectations are better than the results.”

The city of Los Angeles will use its grant to determine ways to help businesses that suffered damage in the riots and to attract or expand businesses that provide goods and services needed by residents, said Parker Anderson, general manager for community development.

One part of that effort will be to identify business opportunities other than liquor stores, which have been the subject of community protests.

In Long Beach, the grant money will be used to help revamp Atlantic Avenue, which suffered major riot damage, and to help implement the city’s new state enterprise zone, which provides tax credits for businesses. Inglewood, meanwhile, will assemble a coalition to assess current job resources and make recommendations on where the money can best be used.