Salt Lake City ponders $1M loans, more aid for Main Street businesses lost in fire
The Utah’s capital has already exceeded its $ 500,000 target. Last month, the fire that destroyed four leading bars and restaurants during the Main Street.
However, the city may not be done because it explores ways to reconstruct these enterprises and supports businesses that often escaped without being damaged.
Salt Lake City is thinking of a new disaster loan program that will provide up to $ 1 million to help them in their efforts to rebuild their owners. It also wants to allocate and re -allocate various funds to create a temporary obstacle along the pavement, which makes the area more accessible in the long run.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mentenhall said, “This is very similar to what we have created with the business world in response to the displacement of the inhabitants during the pandemi, so the tools we recommend here are the species we are dusty from that time.”
However, some members of Salt Lake City City Council also expressed their concerns about concept and how it was implemented.
Recommended City Aid
A few measures due to the proposal were announced during the work session of the Municipal Assembly on Tuesday, but they would be divided into a double administration.
A disaster loan program will be implemented by the SALT Lake City community, a Mentenhall -led agency and members of the Municipal Assembly. Those who receive credit up to $ 1 million will pay 0% interest and payment will not be required in the first two years. In the years, interest rates will vary between 2% and 5%.
The city’s Emergency Credit Program will be brought together for a $ 327,000 from the general fund and 273,000 dollars for a $ 600,000 business support fund for five most affected by the fire managed by the City Council. Each business can receive up to 100,000 dollars with an interest -free loan to be repaid within five years with the option to postpone payments up to two years before paying the loan.
A building fire scene, which destroys four businesses in the 300 southern block of Main Street, was depicted on August 12 in the Salt Lake City city center. Viski Street, White Horse, London Belle and Los Tapatios were destroyed in the fire. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
According to the city, loans aim to provide the “emptiness financing olan that accelerate the restructuring process.
Salt The purpose of these loans will serve as a bridge to help businesses to re -establish operations as soon as possible, Jac
With the fund of $ 600,000, two more measures will be included in the city’s 2026 fiscal year budget.
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More than $ 80,000 from the General Fund will be allocated to establish new obstacles outside the damaged businesses during the main street and will provide “safe pedestrian crossing için in the region for people visiting open enterprises. According to the city, many people would replace the current sidewalk closing.
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$ 100,000 will also be transferred to a new Main Street Fire Rental Aid program from displacement aid for tenants. He would go to the employees who lived in Salt Lake City and with a fire income of 80% of the median income of the region.
Mentenhall said that businesses that have spent thousands of dollars in other fire -related damages may be appropriate. The city sees the area as the “basic block of Main Street, so he wants to rebuild the affected businesses as quickly as possible, and the city authorities wrote in a adjacent note.
Next steps
The city leaders seemed to have clashed on the precaution, as they were announced to the public for the first time on Tuesday.
On the one hand, it helps to rebuild a vital city block faster. Victoria Petro, a member of the Municipal Assembly of SALT Lake, suggested to impose potential fines after a certain period of time to encourage all property owners to build more quickly instead of keeping all the property owners empty, especially since some re -constructions may take a long time.
Christian Priskos, a partner of Viski Street and White Horse, looks at the scene of a building fire that destroys four businesses in the 300 Southern Southern Bloc in the Salt Lake City city center on August 12th. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
White HORSE Spirits & Kitchen ultimately received the least damage from four, but its reopening is still not expected to be up to the beginning of next year. According to SUPP, it is scheduled to be temporarily reopening in mid -February.
“I support strategies that not only help workers, but also support them to the fastest stability, which means programs that encourage them to reopen these things,” Petro said.
Since the fire, things in the region seem slower, so he added Eva Lopez Chavez, a member of the Assembly, including the city center of the region. He sees the offer as an option that the city can use in other fields of emergencies in other areas.
On the other hand, the proposal is narrow and according to Alejandro Puy, Vice President of the Salt Lake Municipal Assembly, does not guarantee that businesses will be reopened in the right place or in the city.
While the community supported the re -investment agency loan, it increased concerns about additional loans due to this issue. The authority suggested that any city investment was “narrowed” to ensure that the Main Street benefits the Main Street, and at the same time to participate in policy debates on when and where certain parts of the request were used.
Mentenhall said that they have concerns that they could add the language because the municipal council has passed through the legislative process. In another part of the city, approved changes can be recorded and used in case of a similar emergency.
A public hearing on budget amendment shall be held after the hearing on September 9 or next month before the vote of the Municipal Assembly. More details about the re -investment agency loan will be discussed during the meeting at the beginning of the same day.
