Press Enterprise' Take on City Council

Grand Terrace OKs property appraisal

By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA / The Press-Enterprise

The Grand Terrace City Council took the first step Thursday toward condemning properties where a home and gas station are located that are needed for the proposed Grand Terrace Town Center.
The decision came after a lengthy discussion among council members and a heated public hearing.
Council members said they hesitated to make the decision because they didn't want to use eminent domain to move the project forward but approved it so that negotiations to buy the land can resume. The vote was unanimous.
Several residents said they didn't want to see any homes in Grand Terrace taken by eminent domain and that they are concerned their home could be next.
Others said they are concerned about building a large home-improvement store in the Town Center because it will attract day laborers who will create trash and unsanitary conditions if no portable restrooms are made available for them. A Lowe's home-improvement store is one of the businesses planned for the 20-acre retail development. Some residents however, said they supported the project because it will bring revenue to the city.
The Redevelopment Agency last week ordered the appraisal of the remaining 1.9-acre lot and nearly half-acre lot within the project's proposed site.
City Manager Tom Schwab said although the appraisal is the first step toward the use of eminent domain, he hopes it doesn't get to that point.
The developer for the Grand Terrace Town Center, Jacobsen Family Holdings LLC, asked the city to get involved after negotiating with the owner of the smaller property for six months and with Jo Stringfield, the owner of the larger property, for a year.
The larger property was appraised at $750,000 and the smaller at $250,000.
However, the smaller property, where the gasoline station is located, may not be affected by the decision because the owner is negotiating with the city to trade his land for another piece of land, Schwab said.
Doug Jacobsen, chief executive officer of Jacobsen Family Holdings LLC, said he is glad the city approved the appraisals so that he can sit with Stringfield and negotiate.
All concerns expressed by residents will be addressed through numerous public meetings to mitigate any issues created by his development if it is approved, he said.
In hope of keeping some control of the home where she grew up, Stringfield submitted plans for a town center she says is more community-orientated than Jacobsen's.
Stringfield's lawyer, C. Robert Ferguson, said the city hasn't given his client her rights under the Redevelopment Act, which says homeowners facing eminent domain have the right to submit their own plan for the redevelopment of their property.
Ferguson said his client should have the right to submit plans with no outside competition, and if the city continues to move forward, it will lose.

Mr. Jacobsen, we have told you what we want. We don't want anymore grandstanding! We want a downtown area we can be proud of. I'm sure you wouldn't want to live next to Lowe's or have to try to get home in that traffic, or worse have your children hurt because of the trucks, traffic and pollution.