Controversy May Kill Azusa-Irwindale Renewal Deal

Irwindale’s offer to redevelop part of Azusa--a proposal dubbed “the Irwindale scam” by Azusa Mayor Eugene Moses--has caused such political upheaval in Azusa, said Irwindale City Manager Charles Martin, that his city is losing interest in the venture.

Martin said that unless the controversy abates, he will recommend to the Irwindale City Council at its Feb. 26 meeting that it drop the offer.

“My thinking is that it is too much of a hassle,” he said.

However, Fred Lyte, Irwindale redevelopment consultant, said the offer is still on the table if Azusa wants to accept it.

Irwindale is offering Azusa the prospect of an $8-million hotel and up to $70 million in redevelopment financing if Azusa will give the Irwindale Community Redevelopment Agency control over development of 120 acres that border Irwindale.

As an added inducement, Lyte has promised to limit his fees and to donate $168,000 to youth baseball and the San Gabriel Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Martin’s negative comments came after an Azusa City Council meeting Monday night at which Mayor Moses renewed his attack on the redevelopment proposal and said he will seek a referendum and investigations by the district attorney and state attorney general if the council approves the agreement.

Assails Councilmen

Moses concentrated his attack on Azusa Councilmen Bruce Latta, who has pushed for an agreement with Irwindale, and James Cook, who has said the idea is worth further study.

Moses said he understands why Irwindale would seek access to land in Azusa, but that he cannot understand why Azusa councilmen would help them.

“What can be the motive of the Azusa officials who were elected and took an oath to serve the interests of Azusa?” he asked in prepared remarks delivered at the council meeting.

“In what ways can redevelopment by Irwindale help these Azusa councilmen? I don’t know that. But I will be asking the county district attorney and the state attorney general’s office to assist me in getting to the bottom of these questions.”

Moses said later that he does not have evidence of any law being broken, but that he doubts that Azusa legally can transfer redevelopment authority to Irwindale. He said he will lead a group seeking a referendum to overturn the agreement if it is approved by the council.

Cook, who has already announced that he will run against Moses for mayor next year, said Moses “is trying to question my integrity” through innuendo.

‘Full of Hot Air’

“The mayor is full of hot air,” Cook said in an interview. “It hurts me that I’m taking this kind of crap . . . “

Cook said Moses put the redevelopment issue on the City Council agenda Monday night to “make a spectacle” even though there was nothing for the council to act on. And although the mayor’s speech provoked a lively discussion, no action was taken.

Last month, the council by a 3-2 vote, instructed its staff to negotiate an agreement that would allow the Irwindale Community Redevelopment Agency to redevelop about 100 acres, mostly along Irwindale Avenue between Gladstone and 1st streets, and about 20 acres along the Foothill Freeway near Irwindale Avenue.

Irwindale has offered to sell bonds and advance funds for redevelopment, recovering its costs from the area’s increased property taxes. Property-tax revenue beyond Irwindale’s expenses would be shared equally by the two cities. All sales-tax revenue would continue to go to Azusa.

Under the proposal, Irwindale would follow zoning now in effect, but Azusa would be prohibited from imposing any special restrictions on development and would be required to process building permits without delay. Azusa would have no authority over redevelopment expenditures.

Draft of Ordinance

Azusa City Administrator Lloyd Wood said Martin last week gave him two proposed resolutions and an ordinance to carry out the agreement. The ordinance spelling out terms of the agreement and the resolutions were labeled “draft/preliminary for discussion purposes.”

One resolution, to be adopted by the Azusa redevelopment agency, would appoint Michael Montgomery, a member of the state Fair Political Practices Commission, as project director for a fee of $5,000 a month for at least 18 months.

Montgomery is a former counsel and executive director of the Irwindale Community Redevelopment Agency who resigned that post in 1980. He was corporate counsel and a stockholder in Pacific Waste Management Corp. when Irwindale sold $395 million in bonds for the company in 1984 to finance a controversial waste-to-energy plant in that city.

The trash incineration project has been stalled by opposition from neighboring cities, including Azusa. Montgomery said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that he is no longer connected with Pacific Waste and recently sold his remaining stock in its parent company, Conversion Industries.

Wood said Martin’s proposals would require modifications before the Azusa city staff could recommend them. A number of questions, including legal liability, would have to be resolved, he said, and Irwindale would have to offer guarantees about development.

Principal Interest

Martin said Irwindale’s chief interest is the redevelopment of the section of Irwindale Avenue in Azusa. Martin said that new buildings have been constructed on adjacent land in Irwindale, and the gap between is an eyesore that is often mistaken for Irwindale.

In addition, Martin said, the Irwindale redevelopment agency wants to assist a developer in building a hotel on Azusa land bordering Irwindale. The Azusa-Irwindale border runs through a gravel pit on the north side of the Foothill Freeway, east of Irwindale Avenue. A restaurant is under construction on the west side of the pit. The proposed hotel would occupy the east side.

Martin said the pit would be filled with water to create a lake between the hotel and restaurant. Martin said hotel visitors would be able to stroll around the lake and its birds and ducks on their way to the restaurant.

Birtcher, a development partnership with offices in Laguna Niguel and elsewhere across the country, sent a letter to Martin on Jan. 28 expressing a desire to build the hotel and a business park on adjoining land, all in Azusa, with the assistance of the Irwindale redevelopment agency.

The letter, signed by Robert M. Campbell, general partner, said Birtcher wants Irwindale to be involved because the effort “will require that type of professionalism to help ensure that this project will be a success.”

No Commitment

Wood pointed out that the letter expresses Birtcher’s “interest” in developing a 150- to 200-room hotel at a cost of $8 million but does not represent a commitment.

Much of Mayor Moses’ criticism of the proposed Irwindale-Azusa agreement has been directed at the fees paid by Irwindale for redevelopment work.

For example, Lyte, whose job is to attract companies to the city, is paid 3% of the valuation of buildings constructed in Irwindale through his efforts. He earned more than $300,000 from Irwindale last year.

In a letter to Martin circulated to Azusa council members, Lyte proposed that he receive the same 3% fee in Azusa but that his earnings on Irwindale Avenue projects be capped at $168,000 and given to nonprofit groups. He said $160,000 would go to the San Gabriel Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America for a program to interest Latinos in scouting and $8,000 to an Azusa Little League to repair a fence.

Lyte noted that the $168,000 is the same amount the city of Azusa spent in a contract dispute with him after he was fired as Azusa’s redevelopment consultant in 1984. Lyte won a $75,000 settlement, and attorneys’ fees pushed Azusa’s total cost to $168,000.

Trading Jibes

In his letter, Lyte noted with sarcasm that Azusa apparently has not been able to afford an $8,000 fence for a youth baseball group “because they have had more worthwhile projects, such as the $168,000 lawsuit with me.”

In his council speech, Moses responded to that remark, saying Irwindale should clean up its own city instead of trying to help Azusa.

He said Irwindale’s residential areas are in “shocking condition” and that “a lot of time, money and effort can be spent cleaning up where goats and pigs run around the front yards.”

Martin said Moses apparently was referring to the home of a 102-year-old Irwindale woman who had steadfastly refused to give up her animals and had been allowed to keep them out of sympathy until she died last week.

Moses has been supported in his opposition to the Irwindale proposal by Councilwoman Jennie Avila. Councilman Lucio Cruz has joined Latta and Cook in advocating negotiations with Irwindale.

Insufficient Funds

Cook said Azusa does not have the money to redevelop Irwindale Avenue and that CalMat, the owner of the proposed hotel site, is unwilling to work with Azusa on redevelopment.

Latta said the controversy that Moses has stirred over the Irwindale proposal typifies Azusa’s political instability.

“That’s why no developers will come to us,” Latta said. “They’re afraid of us, we’re so unstable. Would you invest in Iran or Iraq now? It’s no different.”

Latta said that only by joining with Irwindale can Azusa gain credibility with developers. “This will bring new jobs and prosperity to Azusa,” he said.

But Moses said he does not see any reason for the Azusa City Council to turn its development problems over to Irwindale.

“The people elected us to represent them,” he said. “Now we’re saying Irwindale can do better.”