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Q&A
Discussion on relocation assistance for displaced businesses
0:40:12
ยท
53 sec
Council Member Riley inquires about relocation assistance for businesses that may be displaced due to rezoning. Alex Sommer from the Department of City Planning explains the challenges and ongoing efforts to improve relocation assistance programs.
- City is working with Small Business Services to refine relocation assistance programs
- Past rezonings have revealed issues with allocating resources effectively
- Current efforts focus on updating tools and processes to better assist businesses in need
Kevin Riley
0:40:12
Are you providing relocation assistance?
Alex Sommer
0:40:15
So we're working with SBS.
0:40:18
We're identifying lessons learned in places like Jerome and Gowanus where we have kind of found some kind of miscues in how we've been able to allocate those resources to businesses that are most in need.
0:40:31
So for example, ensuring that they're not going to like a gas station, a corporate gas station or something.
0:40:36
So we're trying to work through with SBS on how to update those tools and focusing on relocation assistance, point person.
Kevin Riley
0:40:44
Typically do businesses take advantage of the services that you guys ask for from past rezoning It's
Alex Sommer
0:40:51
very difficult.
0:40:52
There's a lot of restrictions on who and how they can access that.
0:40:58
And so we've over the last two neighborhood studies, I think we've identified some pitfalls with that program and that's what we're trying to readjust through this.