Businesses Eager for Project to End Flooding

Rain poses more than a minor inconvenience for those with businesses in the Cerritos Industrial Area of Stanton. It’s a threat to their livelihoods.

Even a relatively light rain can cause water to rise and flood the area bordered by Beach Boulevard and Cerritos, Katella and Dale avenues. Heavy rains, such as those of the last El Nino season, flood streets and parking lots and lap at the entrances of local warehouses.

The city has pledged $2 million toward street and infrastructure improvements in the area, and local business owners say they can’t wait.

“We had a lake here last year,” said Dan Caddy, co-owner of Caddy’s Construction on Monroe Avenue, who added that the flooding took place under light rain conditions. During the El Nino season, he said, he used a makeshift dam to protect wood stored in his warehouse.

The project is part of a larger effort to spruce up the area and attract new businesses, said Stanton Community Development Director Mark Lloyd.

Plans call for installing gutters and catch basins and repairing the area’s poor underground storm drainage system. The city will also repave the streets, put in new sidewalks and add landscaping.

The improvements should help the Cerritos Industrial Area withstand all but the most severe storms, Lloyd said.

“What we’re going to do will significantly improve the current condition in the area and greatly reduce the occurrences of flooding,” Lloyd said.

But at a recent public meeting, some residents expressed doubt that the improvements would solve the problem.

They said the county-owned Stanton Storm Channel cannot sufficiently absorb runoff from severe storms. Stanton officials agree, and say they will work with county officials to improve the channel.

Lloyd said it will take about a year to complete the project. At least for this winter season, those in the Cerritos Industrial Area must remain vigilant whenever it rains.