HONOLULU (KHON2) — The transit construction mitigation fund was created to assist businesses hit hard by rail construction along Dillingham Boulevard according to Honolulu City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam.
“We put this program in place last year knowing that a lot of the businesses have been suffering for years and so we wanted to create a pathway to get some kind of relief from the city,” he explained.
Anthony Han, owner of Soul Chicken, is one of the few small business owners that qualified for the $10,000 grant.
“Luckily I got approved for this,” Han said. “So I just got the check. Just so lucky I got it.”
According to the city, only 34 applications were submitted.
They said 15 were ineligible — for a number of reasons — and 19 applications were returned for revisions. In the end, only six small businesses were awarded.
The city had allocated $250,000 for the fund, expecting to help over 20 businesses.
“The restrictions were a little bit tight and only a few businesses were able to qualify than we wanted,” Dos Santos-Tam said.
So he said he and Councilmember Radiant Cordero want to loosen the requirements. They are proposing the annual max revenue limit of $750,000 be increased to $1 million or less.
They want to eliminate the maximum employee requirement completely and change the date a business had to have opened from Jan. 1, 2022 to at least 12 months prior to the start of any rail project construction.
“What makes Kalihi special are all these old mom-and-pop businesses,” Dos Santos-Tam added. “And we want to make sure that they get a chance to survive.”
Construction along Dillingham Boulevard to relocate the power lines in preparation for rail, is expected to be completed some time in 2026. But businessowners said without more assistance they’re not sure they can make it that long.
Han said he is grateful for the $10,000 grant, but that it’s not enough to keep him from going under.
“This is the beginning of the construction. So it’s going to be getting worse the situation soon,” Han said.
Honolulu City Council will be discussing proposed changes to Bill 31 regarding the Transit Construction Mitigation Fund in a meeting Tuesday at 9 A.M.