Merchants Help Halt Mission Street Closure

Frustrated business owners convinced city officials to stop a planned one-week shutdown of Mission Street to complete more work related to the Fair Oaks street improvement project during a heated forum at on Thursday morning.

In addition to dozens of city merchants, councilmembers Michael Cacciotti and David Sifuentes were also in attendance, along with City Manager John Davidson, Assistant City Manager Sergio Gonzalez, Public Works Project Manager Gabriel Nevarez and Public Works Director Matt Sweeney. Sam Telebian of DMR Team in Culver City, a consultant working with the contractor doing the work, was also present.

Scott Feldmann, president of the city’s Chamber of Commerce, served as the forum’s mediator.

“I got the call yesterday saying that the decision [to shut down Mission Street] was made,” Feldmann said. “But we saw, based on what people said in there, that it’s been changed.”

Instead of the full closure starting Monday, Mission Street will only be partially closed. It will be open to accommodate through traffic only, so turning on to Fair Oaks won’t be possible, said Nevarez. The partial opening extends this phase of work for about three weeks, while the full shutdown of Mission Street would have lasted one.

The impact on local businesses was at the heart of the forum as well as the city’s change in plan. Sweeney outlined the plan to the audience, but later asked if business owners would rather have the whole street be shut down for a week or for them to deal with a partially open street for three weeks. A flurry of hands shot up in favor of the latter.  This led to some discussion between Davidson and Sifuentes, with Sifuentes eventually standing up and announcing the partial closure.

The forum also gave business owners another outlet to vent to the city, with grievances ranging from struggling business to the way the Fair Oaks project came into existence.

The $4 million street improvement project is designed to upgrade streetscapes and sidewalks on a section of Fair Oaks Avenue as well as the entire length of State Street. The city plans to install new medians, streetlights, banner poles, trees and landscaping, and also reconstruct driveways and sidewalks.  

The project received $761,000 in federal stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 and $1.9 million in Rogan Bill funds.

The Fair Oaks project is one of four projects that was to be implemented to help "improve regional mobility," according to Gonzalez, the assistant city manager.

Cacciotti added that the current incarnation of the Fair Oaks project was one of "19 or 20" proposals, some of which he fought against years ago. One of the proposals, he said to the crowd, would have been to add lanes, effectively eliminating parking on Fair Oaks.

Gonzalez added that more lanes "would have been great for traffic, but it would have been awful for local business."

But many small business owners along Fair Oaks reaffirmed to city officials and Feldmann that their situations are dire.

"I've lost my lease!" said Howard Finkelstein, owner of at 721 Fair Oaks Ave. "Gail [Dragna, owner of ] has lost her lease, and she's been in business here for more than 30 years!"

Other business owners voiced their frustration with a disconnect they feel from the city in regards to communication with the business community.

"We keep hearing, 'We know your businesses are important to you.' Well, aren't our businesses important to you?" asked Walter Zooi, co-owner of the "It's not us versus you guys."

Gonzalez said that the city is exploring ways to legally compensate businesses for the issues faced during the project. One concept he mentioned is perhaps instituting a water rate forgiveness for one year. He also mentioned that a small business subcommittee would be re-established to ensure a better connection with business owners.

Gonzalez also responded to complaints from several owners regarding a lack of communication by saying that "dozens, if not hundreds of meetings" were held since the Fair Oaks project's inception over the years, many of which involved input from local businesses. But he also acknowledged, as did others, that several businesses in the city didn't even exist nearly a decade ago.

"One thing I think the city could have done better is more recent outreach," he said after the forum ended. "To let people know what the scale was going to be."

The project still has an August completion date, but Telebian of DMR Team believes the work could be done as early as June. That leaves business owners a few more months to contend with the project.

Zooi said he's "deeply frightened" by how the project has unfolded and how business has been impacted, including long-standing ones such as Finkelstein's and Dragna's.

"They made through the recession," he said. "But they couldn't make it through our own city."

The same forum will take place again at Shakers Restaurant at 6:30 p.m. to accommodate business owners who couldn't attend in the morning.

Editor's note: This article has been changed to say that Councilman David Sifuentes attended the morning forum.