Pacific Coast Business Times: Coast Village Road reopens for business
Coast Village Road reopened to business owners the morning on Jan. 23 and, by around noon, dozens of customers had been allowed into the area to shop at local stores and restaurants.
Owners were able to stock up and contact customers before the roads opened, but a few proprietors were still cleaning up mud and rocks while utility workers and trucks carting debris continued to roll past.
“We’re just so happy to be up and running,” said Steve Crompton, general manager of the Honor Bar. “We were fortunate that we didn’t sustain a lot of damage. Just some mud, and a little bit of elbow grease cleaned that up.”
By 12:30 p.m. around two dozen customers were eating lunch at the restaurant, and Crompton said he was happy to offer “a little bit of normalcy, a place to grab a beer.”
A few doors down, Richie’s Barber Shop was giving haircuts to a few regular customers while phones rang to book more appointments. Both Richie’s and Honor Bar operated out of pop-up locations in downtown Santa Barbara while the evacuations were in effect.
