A Lot’s at Stake Along the Mile in National City

Over the years, dozens of businessmen have had their eye on Allan Olson’s 4.7 acres situated at the south end of National City Boulevard. Everyone from fast food restaurateurs to car dealers have inquired about the property, but the retired aircraft engineer has gamely hung on to the land for 44 years, thinking that one day it would be worth millions.

“I always thought that this property was going to be my security in my old age, especially as I watched the Mile of Cars grow on the boulevard,” Olson said. “If not security for my wife and me, then it was something that I could leave to my kids and grandkids.”

Olson, who has been a cautious and conservative man all of his 75 years, estimated his property’s value at $2 million, but certain to increase when adjacent California 54, which separates National City and Chula Vista, is completed.

Sights on Property

Unknown to Olson, though, the city of National City also had it sights on his property. Since the city’s redevelopment agency told him that the City Council would acquire the land through a purchase agreement or condemnation, if necessary, suitors have stopped calling, Olson said. He charged that city officials put out the word last year to prospective car dealers that if they wait until National City acquires the property, they will get a much sweeter deal.

Arnold Peterson, executive director of the Community Development Commission, the agency in charge of redevelopment, does not deny that city officials want to see two car dealers on Olson’s property, but he scoffed at charges of preferential treatment for auto dealers, who have become National City’s economic salvation.

Meanwhile, there is a zoning problem to be worked out. Olson’s land is zoned for light manufacturing. If the city wants car dealers on the property, it will have to be re-zoned to allow for a car dealership.

No problem, said Peterson, explaining that the City Council is more than willing to change the zoning so that the property will fit nicely inside National City’s redevelopment plan, which was approved in 1981.

Suddenly and without much warning, Olson’s retirement nest egg has cracked and exposed an uncertain future.

“They’re a bunch of slickers. They think that if I get one-fourth of what the property is worth that’s all an old guy like me needs . . . They say that the person who leases most of my property has more to lose than me,” said Olson, who was interviewed in his comfortable Chula Vista home.

Although the property has been inside the city’s redevelopment boundary since 1981, Olson said that he did not realize this until last month.

Currently, a 93-space trailer park, which has been there since 1950, sits on the property. The owner of the park has almost 19 years left on a lease that he signed with Olson. Peterson, a no-nonsense bureaucrat who is blunt if not candid, said that the trailer park does not conform with the property’s present zoning designation.

According to Olson, Peterson approached him last year and offered to lease a narrow unused portion of the property, which is actually a hole in the ground, for $1,000 per month. In addition, Peterson offered to help him find a car dealer who would be willing to lease part of the land if Olson succeeded in evicting the trailer park tenants, Olson said.

“I thought he was going to make a study and help me get a car dealer on there,” said Olson. “I didn’t know they wanted to condemn my property instead. I thought he was working with me. I thought he was going to help me.”

Peterson denied making any promises to Olson.

“Ultimately, my intention is to acquire, by condemnation if necessary, the trailer park and the parcel that we are currently renting from Mr. Olson,” said Peterson in an office interview.

As to the parcel that the city is renting from Olson, Peterson said: “I’m buying time and space. I told him that I wanted to make some studies and surveys . . . My intent was to stall what could have been an adverse use of the land by Mr. Olson. We didn’t want him leasing it to someone else.”

Olson agrees with National City’s decision to extend the Mile of Cars to his property and concurs that the trailer park is an eyesore. He is presently embroiled in a legal attempt to break the lease with the trailer park owner, charging that the owner has failed to live up to the terms of the lease agreement.

Slim Possibility

However, the possibility is slim that Olson will succeed in settling the legal dispute before National City acquires his property, which Peterson said could happen within the next year.

National City officials argue that the trailer park leaseholder “has the majority interest” in Olson’s property. “Mr. Olson owns the land, but the leaseholder stands to lose a bigger financial sum when we acquire the property,” Peterson said.

“The city would offer a bigger settlement to the leaseholder than me,” said Olson. “I own the property, but apparently that doesn’t mean much in this case.”

Olson, who admits to being a poor businessman, earns only $2,200 a month rent from the trailer park. The park owner charges $227 per space, earning about $253,000 per year. Peterson does not deny that the park owner will end up with a healthy profit, whether the city buys the property or acquires it through condemnation.

Regardless of how the city acquires Olson’s property, Peterson said that officials will probably have to buy the tenants’ trailers and pay their relocation costs. He said that city officials have not estimated the value of Olson’s land or the cost of moving 93 families. But he “assumed” that the majority of the families would qualify for subsidized housing, which would be paid for with federal funds.

“I’m not prepared to tell you what we’re willing to offer Mr. Olson,” said Peterson.

He said that placing two car dealers on Olson’s property would be “consistent with the city’s long-range redevelopment plans.” Besides, it would make good business sense to extend the Mile of Cars to the border with Chula Vista, where a scheduled off-ramp from California 54 will provide easy access to National City’s most famous landmark.

“The Mile of Cars is National City’s breadbasket. National City is a poor community. National City needs the Mile of Cars. National City needs the Mile of Cars to pay its bills. Putting two car dealers there (on Olson’s property) would be the most economic and productive use of the land,” Peterson said.

He strongly denied suggestions by Olson that the city is prepared to “give away” the land in order to attract two more car dealers.

A Done Deal?

“Over the years we have severely discounted land to new car dealers in order to attract their attention . . . We gave in order to get an investment. But we don’t do that anymore. The Mile of Cars is a profitable institution and there are many dealers who want to put their business on National City Boulevard . . . When we acquire (Olson’s) land, it will be sold on a competitive basis, for its fair market value,” Peterson said.

At times Peterson and other city officials talk about acquiring Olson’s property as if it were a done deal. By law, the redevelopment agency has to schedule public hearings before acquiring the land, but Olson charged that will merely be a formality.

“This would also have to be approved by the Planning Commission. But that’s all cut and dried. They’ve already made up their minds. They’re going to take my property away one way or another . . . All these years of sacrificing, making payments on the land while I was raising a family. None of that matters. I know that I’m going to end up with a pittance,” Olson said.