Some Observers Believe Decision Is a Setback for Area : Council Kills Outside Development for Olvera Street

Olvera Street’s restaurants, artisans and shopkeepers are claiming a major victory in their fight to control its development as part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park.

In a surprise move, the Los Angeles City Council recently adopted a program aimed at retaining and enhancing “the unique Mexican heritage of Los Angeles” on Olvera Street while assuring its 78 businesses and merchants that they will not be driven out by prohibitive rents. In doing so, the council rejected a plan by city departments that sought to give an outside developer broad powers to reshape Olvera Street’s commercial makeup.

Vivien de Bonzo, a restaurant owner and president of the Olvera Street Merchants Assn., said the street’s business people were heartened by the council decision. Many, including some whose families have run the same small shops and stands for years, fear being forced off Olvera Street by sudden rent increases or lease cancellations.

“Now they’re including us in the planning process and making us part of the future of the street,” De Bonzo said. “They’re giving us a fighting chance to survive the changeover.”

To some observers, however, the council’s decision appeared to be a setback for Olvera Street’s cleanup and rebuilding. They said it would maintain the status quo--which in recent years has been less than a resounding financial success--by discouraging a developer from investing in the street’s restoration and operation.

“We may see some of these buildings prettied up, and perhaps even rehabilitated, but not much else is likely to change,” said a city official who asked not to be identified.

“This could mean just spinning our wheels for a couple of years, instead of really revitalizing Olvera Street. We have to go through with it, though, and see what happens.”

The street, reclaimed from a dirt alley and turned into a “typical” Mexican village in the early 1930s, is the busiest part of the state park near the Los Angeles Civic Center. Containing some of the city’s oldest buildings, it has attracted an estimated 2 million visitors a year despite a turbulent history that rarely found the city, county and state agreeing on how to manage or develop the 42-acre property.

In the latest dispute, the city administrative office, working with the city Recreation and Parks Department, which oversees Olvera Street, had proposed that Olvera Street and some nearby parking space be leased to a developer who would invest more than $13 million in restoring and stabilizing the street’s aged buildings against earthquakes. The devel oper also would install fire protection equipment and put up a new parking structure next to the Old Plaza Catholic Church across from Olvera Street.

Under terms of the lease, the developer would assume control of Olvera Street, its businesses and merchandising practices.

Carnival-Like Atmosphere

With Olvera Street sales declining, especially since the 1984 Summer Olympics, there has been concern voiced that the street’s carnival-like atmosphere detracts from its historic link to the city’s symbolic birthplace--the Old Plaza that is the park’s focal point. Some merchants, for example, peddle goods that critics say have no connection with the street’s Mexican heritage. They range from plaster dragons and cobras to toy swords, bow-and-arrow sets and other trinkets and toys imported from the Orient.

Under the council-approved plan, a master developer still would be sought for Olvera Street’s restoration, development and operation, but the primary goal would be to preserve the area’s cultural heritage and atmosphere through its stores, shops and other businesses.

Rent increases would be phased in so as “not (to) work a hardship” on merchants, the council explained. Leases would run for at least five years.

De Bonzo said that while there will be changes, the block-long marketplace will “remain Olvera Street and not (become) another theme park.”

‘Needs a Lift’

“We don’t want Olvera Street to become a Mexican-style Ports of Call,” she said, referring to the big waterfront restaurant and shopping complex in San Pedro.

De Bonzo acknowledged that Olvera Street needs “a lift (from) someone with expertise and money.”

Indeed, she explained, the merchants’ group is interested in undertaking the program as a joint venture with a developer who, she said, has already been approached. She declined to identify the developer.

De Bonzo said the City Council’s newest member, Richard Alatorre, and veteran Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay were the merchant association’s principal political allies in reshaping the development plan. Bypassed in the approval process was the city Recreation and Parks Commission. James E. Hadaway, Recreation and Parks Department general manager, said through a spokesman that he would have recommended against the plan if it had been submitted to him because he felt the guidelines were too restrictive to attract a developer.

Tie Developer’s Hands

This was confirmed by a major developer, who asked not to be identified but had previously shown an interest in the Olvera Street project. He agreed that the City Council-approved plan would tie a developer’s hands and seriously limit the potential for profit.

Both the county and state, which also own property within the park, still must approve the City Council’s program. Meanwhile, the city Recreation and Parks Department is expected to begin preparing requests for developers to submit proposals for the street’s restoration under the council’s guidelines.

The council set a goal of 2 1/2 years to do the work. Its cost is about $9 million, to be provided by the developer. It would include stabilizing, restoring and fireproofing eight of Olvera Street’s 11 buildings. The multi-deck parking garage, described as a temporary structure, is optional.

In another phase of the Pueblo park’s overall renewal program, plans are nearly complete for the $15-million rehabilitation and conversion of the 1890 Pico-Garnier block into a restaurant and shopping complex. The county also is preparing for the restoration of a group of historic Main Street buildings and construction of a large hotel and parking structure on park property west of Olvera Street.