Malibu’s companies struggle after fire and PCH restrictions

Two months after twin fires destroyed large expanses of two communities in southern California, many companies left find it difficult to revive sales in front of inappropriate customers, road closures and a massive reconstruction effort that should slide for years.

The secondary crisis has hardly reached Malibu due to the continuous closure of the Pacific Coast Highway to most vehicles – insulating the community by the beach of customers from WestSide.

Some companies have closed and others say they find it difficult to stay open. Sales of certain restaurants and shops have dropped less than half of what they were before palisades were held in the east end of the city in early January.

The leaders of the government of the city and the business world urged the state of transport agency, Caltrans, to extend access to PCH as soon as possible. But with the body of American army engineers about to start cleaning hundreds of houses destroyed along the highway, the crucial coastal road seems to remain like a strangulation point for months and possibly years.

In the meantime, Malibu’s government and business leaders remind foreigners that most of the city has not burned and that restaurants and shops are waiting for customers to return.

“The main thing we want people to know is that Malibu is open to business,” said Mayor Doug Stewart. “Yes, it is difficult to come from the East (side of Santa Monica) but there are many other ways to arrive here. Malibu is not destroyed. Our retail and restaurants are open for everyone. »»

Forest fires and floods assailed the city with around 10,000 people with striking regularity. But in recent years, the assault has been particularly difficult. The 2018 Woolsey fire, which destroyed 465 houses, with less than 40% rebuilt this year.

The landslides closed PCH last year. The Franklin Fire emptied 20 structures in the center of Malibu, also closing power for days. Then came Janan’s Palisades Fire, which burned the vast majority of houses along the Ocean of Topanga Canyon in Las Flores Canyon, part of the 798 total lost structures in Malibu, according to the body of the army.

“If companies here were a boxer, at that time, they could have called him TKO (Technical Knockout),” said Stewart. “It struck them very hard and they have trouble.”

Mitch Taylor, long -standing director of the Surf Becker store in the center of Malibu, agreed: “It is a guarantee here in Malibu that something bad is happening every five to 10 years. But it’s not just mean, it’s devastating. “”

John’s Garden’s garden, a beloved sandwich, salad and soup in Malibu Country Mart. Although it has survived the fire, the restaurant has seen its receipts drop by more than half, with many of its non -local customers unable to pass PCH control points.

Even the workers who have succeeded in passing the control points find the reader painfully slow, the highway reduced to a track in each direction and the speed limit cut to 25 MPH while the work vehicles block the road.

Many workers are forced to take the longer road, from Highway 101 to Las Virgenes / Malibu Canyon Road. The change lengthened the one-way journey for some perhaps 40 minutes to two hours, sometimes more.

When they arrive at work in Country Mart, it is a picturesque shopping center muffled by the absence of visitors. On a brilliant and windy day Thursday, a patio that can be stuck with guests was seated mainly.

Boyan Kinov, a Bulgarian immigrant who bought John’s garden a dozen years ago, said that he was working to stay afloat. Already, a neighboring shop and a gym have closed. Other high -end retailers are shorter hours open. He is concerned that if other companies fail, this could further reduce pedestrian traffic of the Cross Creek Road shopping center.

Kinov said that his insurer was rehumed to pay part of his policy for receipts lost for business interruption, saying that he is only responsible for days when the company has really closed its doors, not deficits related to access to the limited highway.

“We are one of the oldest companies in Malibu. We celebrate our 50th anniversary in July, ”said Kinov. “We are like a staple food, an institution. And we have no support for any type of agencies or government.

“I feel like a defeat, do you know?” It’s unsustainable like that. It’s very sad, and even incredible, to have to consider closing the doors. »»

Other local pillars, such as Duke’s Malibu, tramonto bistro and louxxe basket on PCH near Carbon Beach, have not yet reopened. These companies are even more difficult to reach, hemmed by control points in the east and west.

Like other Malibu companies, John’s Garden reminds the outside customers that they can always reach the city. The highway at the top of the Country Mart coast remains open and traffic can also come to Kanan Dume Road and Malibu Canyon de la Vallée.

But most of the visitors have always come from the “city” – Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica and points beyond – to make better access to PCH Critique.

At the Paradise Cove Beach Cafe, where business is down more than 60%, owner Bob Morris called on the governor’s political leaders to focus on a faster expansion of access to the highway, also known as road 1 of the state.

Morris said that leaders should consider offering the type of incentive given to the motorway entrepreneur who has rebuilt the Santa Monica motorway after the Northridge earthquake in 1994. This manufacturer won a $ 14.5 million bonus to restore a collapsed section of the 74 -day motorway before the scheduled date.

Glen Gerson, owner of the Calamigos Beach Club restaurant on PCH, suggested that Caltrans use reversible dividers on the highway to provide two traffic lanes in the direction of predominant turnipping and one way in the other direction.

“No one needs to get injured. We have to do it safely, “said Morris. “But we have to open this highway, and in government, someone must push to get there.”

The highway through most of Malibu consists of a total of five lanes – two for traffic in each direction and a central track for left turns. There is also a way on each side to park along most of the two sides of PCH.

Now, the orange traffic cones limit vehicles to a track in each direction. And the highway will soon be crowded with trucks carrying debris to be removed by the body of army engineers and private entrepreneurs.

Throughout the burn zone of palisades, it is estimated that it will take 90,000 trucks to complete the work. The body said that the work will be completed in the areas of Burn Palisades and Altadena “within one year”, without giving more precise estimates for PCH and other sections of the work.

Caltrans spokesman Nathan Bass said that the agency was heading “towards opening as soon as we can”, adding that recovery workers remain occupied in the region and that they must “resolve” their tasks, including the abolition of dangers, before opening people other than the first stakeholders, health workers, residents, entrepreneurs and essential employees.

The inhabitants and visitors who come mainly from the coast or the San Fernando valley try to replace the missing customers.

The city of Malibu buys a lunch in various local restaurants, every day, for around 100 city employees, said Stewart. On March 15, Morris plans to organize a “day of hope” at the Paradise Cove restaurant, with free meals for the first speakers and those affected by the fire.

The service recently resumed on the Metro bus line traveling from Santa Monica to Trancas Canyon Road, near the western end of the city. Some residents wondered if a ferry service could be launched, to deliver day excursions from Santa Monica Pier to Malibu Pier – an alternative that the city tried during a large landslide decades ago.

Kinov and other Malibu businessmen said that their mind had been noted by customers who have made a special effort to buy additional meals or gifts.

Lisa Barron, who lost her house above the Costa Beach, said that she had come to John’s garden for a sandwich to help strengthen a place where she liked.

“We do not want what survives still dead before the rest of us can rebuild and come back,” said Barron, a former business teacher at UC Irvine. “With these companies and people who still live here, we must keep them alive, healthy and safe so that the community does not take place.”

With the same thought in mind, Vanessa Abbott, a chief editor who lives in Calabasas, jumped on the hill Thursday for lunch. “Everything is still there, and I want to do my part to support him,” said Abbott, “a sandwich at a time.”

Lynn Schulz, Managing Director of Marmalade Cafe in Country Mart, said that the feeling of support was working in both directions.

“We believe that our role in the community, even during this tragedy, is to be there, to be open, to launch meals or to restore, everything that needs,” said Schulz. “We do everything we can to be here and be part of the community.”