$1 Million OKd to Upgrade Tapo Street

Tapo Street could soon receive a new look and a new name.

Hoping to revitalize the ailing shopping district, City Council members this week agreed to allocate about $1 million in city and federal funds for new lighting, landscaping, trees and signs to give the street a distinctive appearance.

Also at a meeting Monday, council members unanimously agreed to send out a survey asking Tapo Street property and business owners if the thoroughfare’s name should be changed to eliminate confusion with nearby Tapo Canyon Road.

City Councilwoman Sandi Webb first suggested renaming Tapo Street, and the idea seems to have caught on among community members.

The survey will ask the people who live, own property or do business on Tapo Street whether the city should leave the Tapo Street name alone; change the name to Santa Susana Boulevard; or leave the street name unchanged while creating a bigger shopping district called Santa Susana Town Square, which would include Tapo Street and surrounding areas.

Distributing the survey will cost an estimated $200, according to city staff members. Changing the street name on computer programs, maps and the like could cost the city $50,000 or more. It is hard to predict how much such a change would cost merchants, who would need to pay for new letterheads, business cards and advertising.