NEWS RELEASE Contact: Matthew Bronson, City Manager

GROVER BEACH, CA – The City of Grover Beach is working directly with local businesses impacted by COVID-19 public health restrictions on indoor operations to help these businesses transition to outdoor spaces. On July 27, the Grover Beach City Council approved a program allowing for the use of outdoor spaces for businesses such as parking lots, sidewalks and possibly even portions of the streets. The Council also authorized the use of up to $50,000 in funding through the City’s allocation of one-time CARES Act grant funding to help businesses with this transition to outdoor spaces required by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

“This program is just the latest way that the City of Grover Beach is showing its support for our business community,” said Grover Beach Mayor Jeff Lee. “The City is committed to developing a pro-business approach that recognizes the critical contributions of local businesses to the collective wellbeing and economic future of our community.”

To date, the City has partnered with the South County Chambers of Commerce to provide over $150,000 in microgrants to assist 20 Grover Beach businesses which applied for these grant funds. These funds have greatly assisted local businesses in recovering and reopening safely consistent with public health guidance. The City had also provided previous assistance by waiving late fees for utility payments for business and residential customers from February through May.

Effective July 13, 2020, the CDPH ordered the closure of indoor restaurants and dining establishments statewide along with additional closures in San Luis Obispo County and other counties on the state COVID-19 monitoring list impacting personal care services such as hair and nail salons and barber shops. The City of Grover Beach recognizes the challenges that these local businesses face while transitioning to outdoor operations and is committed to allow flexible commercial use of public and private outdoor spaces. The City will work directly with local businesses to explore options for the creation of new temporary outdoor spaces for dining and other services and will offer matching grants of up to $5,000 for the construction of permanent patio spaces where applicable. Processing for all associated permits will be expedited with fees waived with the exception of building permits for permanent structures.



“Grover Beach businesses have shown their resiliency and many have already begun adapting to outdoor operations,” said Matthew Bronson, Grover Beach City Manager. “The City is dedicated to helping our businesses and we want to hear from them about how we can help businesses serve their customers outside in a whole new way.”

To find out more, businesses can go to www.groverbeach.org/covid19  or contact us at (805) 473-4550 or cityhall@groverbeach.org.