N. Hollywood Merchants May Get MTA Funds

A group of North Hollywood merchants may get as much as $2 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to compensate them for sales lost during subway construction.

After a brief debate, the Los Angeles City Council voted 11 to 0 Friday to support development of a plan for compensating merchants and encouraging economic recovery in North Hollywood.

“It will be helping these businesses get on their feet again, and survive into the future so they are not dragged down to the point that they have to close their doors,” Councilman Joel Wachs said.

Wachs and Councilman Richard Alarcon argued strongly that the council should act immediately, despite some council members’ concerns the so-called set-aside plan was premature and unresolved questions over where the costs would be applied.

“This is an urgent need,” Alarcon said. “These people have been damaged. They are in need of recovery as soon as possible.”

The MTA closed parts of Lankershim Boulevard for five consecutive weekends to repair roads torn up during construction of the Metro Red Line subway and station. The construction ended Oct. 19, a week earlier than expected.

The council’s vote was “a step in the right direction,” said Guy Weddington McCreary, transportation chairman for the North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. McCreary owns a commercial property in the construction area and said his tenant has been affected by the work.

“Anytime you shut anything down it affects businesses for two or three blocks in each direction,” he said. “It changes driving patterns and sometimes people don’t come back.”

Wachs and Alarcon were critical of the MTA for not budgeting funds to compensate the business owners.

“There was a general pot of money established as mitigation,” Alarcon said.

The money would come from Propositions A and C, measures originally targeted for rail construction.

But with some rail projects suspended by the MTA due to financial problems, Alarcon and Wachs argued for a portion of the money to be diverted to indemnify the merchants.

The two councilmen threatened to withhold about $37 million the MTA needs to pay for the Red Line until the agency presents a plan to pay for the losses.

At the urging of council members Nate Holden and Mike Hernandez, language in the motion was clarified to ensure the money to compensate businesses would not take an extra toll on city coffers, but instead would be taken out of the overall city contribution to Red Line construction.

The council also balked at defining the amount to be used for compensation, instead calling for “up to” a $2-million set-aside.

The money would be well-spent, argued Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, whose Hollywood district has been disrupted for years by subway construction.

“The MTA should have put this [aside] to begin with, but they didn’t,” she said. “However, spending $2 million now saves you $40 million in lawsuits later.”