Court Will Decide Fate of Egan’s Muffler Shop

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has agreed to decide the fate of a tiny roadside muffler shop that some officials see as a wart marring Torrance’s redevelopment plans.

The long-running battle between muffler shop owner Walter J. (Jake) Egan and the city of Torrance will be decided by Judge Lawrence Miller Jr. in the next year, said Egan’s attorney, Anthony Parrille.

Aable Mufflers, Egan’s aging red, white and blue shop, is a remnant of the city’s old, industrial east side. It stands at the corner of Torrance Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, next to where Honda plans to build its North American headquarters on a lushly landscaped campus as part of the redevelopment project.

The city has tried in vain to remove Egan and his grease-stained shop from that vista.

“They have no intention of leaving me on this corner,” said Egan, who has owned the property since 1970. “Their ultimate goal is to destroy me. I won’t have it.”

In 1983, the city tried to include the 3,500-square-foot property in the huge redevelopment plan. Egan, a tough-talking former Carson city councilman, stood his ground. He filed a lawsuit that threatened to hold up the entire project.

The city backed down and, acting as the city’s Redevelopment Agency, the council paid his attorney’s fees and agreed not to use eminent domain to obtain his property.

Three years later, the city said it wanted to straighten Torrance Boulevard, which would require taking 18 feet from the front of Egan’s property line. Egan said such a reduction would cut through the shop’s front auto rack and work area and end his business.

He said the agreement with the Redevelopment Agency prevents the city from trying to take his property, but city officials say the council is a separate entity not bound by a Redevelopment Agency agreement. The city has asked the court to decide who is right.

Although city officials say Torrance Boulevard needs to be straightened for traffic and safety reasons, Egan contends that it is all part of a city effort to remove him.

“Honda wants me out, and the city of Torrance is doing all the dirty work,” an angry Egan said.

In response, City Atty. Kenneth L. Nelson said: “What can I say? The answer is no. But that is ultimately for the Superior Court to decide.”

Honda officials denied that they are trying to get rid of Egan. “The matter is between the city and the owner of the muffler shop,” said Honda spokesman Kurt Antonius. But he then added: “As far as aesthetics go, with the effective use of berms and landscaping, we will shield the headquarters from the site.”

Egan said he reviewed 15 years of traffic records for the intersection and found no significant accidents due to the curvature in the road.

“You look through them. It’s all right there,” he said, pointing to a 4-inch stack of traffic records on a desk at the shop.

John Vance, the city’s traffic manager, disagreed. “There have been some collisions due to the road conditions,” he said, citing a recent accident in which a car ran into a traffic signal.

The city has suggested other locations for his shop, but Egan said he fears that his $100-a-month mortgage payments would soar elsewhere and sink his business. He also said no other location can compare to his current location at one of the busiest intersections in the city.

Egan is no stranger to legal battles. He served nine months in federal prison for mail fraud and extortion convictions in connection with the W. Patrick Moriarty political corruption case. The mail fraud convictions were recently overturned on appeal.

He said that in the last two months he has spent $14,700 in legal fees in his current fight with the city. He predicts that the legal battle to be long and tough, costing him more than five times that amount before it is over.

“I’m willing to put that in,” he said. “This shop is all I got.”