Bridge Grant Program

Attention all restaurants, bars, and personal care services which includes: hair salons, barber shops, estheticians, skin care services, electrology services, nail salons, body art professionals, tattoo parlors, piercing shops, massage businesses, and spas. The City Council approved a Bridge Grant Program on December 15, 2020 meant to support restaurants and personal care services. $1.9 million was allocated to this program to be distributed in two phases. Phase 1 is for those business that received a Small Business Relief Grant from the City and Phase 2 is for those businesses that did not.

Phase 1 – APPLICATION IS OPEN

To the businesses listed above that received a Small Business Relief Grant, please click the link below to an online portal to fill out a request for a one-time $10,000 Bridge Grant. The associated Grant Agreement must be filled out and signed as part of the submittal process. Applicants must submit their request and upload their signed Grant Agreement no later than noon PST on December 22, 2020.

Phase 2 – APPLICATION WINDOW COMING SOON

To eligible businesses that did not receive a Small Business Relief Grant, please note that we will be launching an additional outreach program and application submittal period in the beginning of January 2021. This will be for a one-time $10,000 Bridge Grant. Relevant information will be kept on this website and a link to the application will provided early next year. While a complete Bridge Grant Phase 2 Guidelines document will be posted shortly, a list of the key eligibility requirements is listed below:

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for Phase 2 of the Bridge Grant Program, a business will need to meet certain criteria and must demonstrate the need for financial support due to the temporary loss of revenue resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the new Regional Stay-at-Home Order. Businesses that have received funding in Phase 1 of this program will not be eligible to participate in Phase 2.

Consistent with previous Federal Cares Act funding requirements, applicants need to prove that their business has been affected by COVID-19 in at least one of the following ways:

• The business was deemed non-essential and was forced to shut down by the State or local government;
• Sales from the business are down more than 25 percent compared to the previous three months (prior to February 15, 2020);
• The business had to lay off at least one employee (full- or part-time employee); or
• One or more employees in the business have contracted COVID-19, while at work.

In addition, all businesses participating in Phase 2 Bridge Programs are required to meet the following minimum requirements for grant funding:

• The business must be a restaurant or personal care service that has its principal office/store located within Costa Mesa city limits;
• The business must be an independently owned and operated business that is neither dominant in its field of operation, nor a franchise business;
• At least one of the business officers must be domiciled in Orange County, California;
• The business together with affiliates has 100 or fewer employees and average annual gross receipts of $15 million or less over the previous three years;
• The business must be legal and located in a commercial or industrial space;
• The business must have an active Costa Mesa business license for a minimum of six (6) months as of June 1, 2020;
• The business within Costa Mesa must not generate more than an average annual gross-receipts of $2.5 million;
• The business must be in good standing with the City, meaning it must be current on its business license fees and it must not have any existing municipal code violations;
• The business must follow the State’s re-opening guidance for its industry; and
• The business must submit the required application, and all required supporting documentation.

Document Preparation

In preparation for this grant please make sure that you have a current tax return, evidence that at least one of your owners is domiciled in Orange County (A lease or mortgage), an active business license with the City, and documentation itemizing the impact COVID-19 has had on your business.

If you have any questions, please contact the City email: costamesabac@costamesaca.gov or call: (714) 754-5245

Small Business Relief Grant Program

The City of Costa Mesa has distributed over $2.74 million to 263 businesses within Costa Mesa through the Small Business Relief Grant Program. To see the list of businesses click here. All funds have been disbursed and the City is now focusing on collecting receipts from all grant recipients. Thank you to our program administrator partner Orange County Small Business Development Center (OC SBDC) for all of their help in helping so many small businesses in Costa Mesa. OC SBDC continues to be a resource for small businesses throughout this pandemic. Please seek them out for any guidance you might need for your small businesses at the link here: https://orangecountysbdc.org/.

Receipts & Expenditure Documentation for the Small Business Relief Grant Program

Please click on the link below, fill out the short form, and upload the eligible receipts you are submitting to comply with the Grant Agreement for the Small Business Relief Grant Program. Please make sure all documents you are submitting are in PDF form. Staff will review your documentation and reach out to you if their are any questions or concerns. Thank you.

TEMPORARY OUTDOOR USE PERMITS

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