Huntington Beach : Suit Seeks to Force Sale of Beachfront Business

The city is considering legal action to force the owners of a beachfront hamburger stand to sell their property.

The City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, voted 6 to 1 this week to authorize filing suit to condemn Wimpi’s on Pacific Coast Highway and 5th Street if negotiations to buy the property remain deadlocked.

Wimpi’s is inside Huntington Beach’s downtown redevelopment area. Its land is needed before the second phase of the project can move ahead, City Administrator Paul Cook said.

The city has been negotiating with three property owners for about two years and needs to move ahead to force the sale, he said.

The owners are willing to sell the land but not at a price the city is offering, said Charles Sarrabere, 78, who owns the land with his sister and niece. Sarrabere said he grew up on that property, where his parents bought a house about 1920.

The land is a prime piece of beachfront property on a well-traveled street and is worth much more than the city has offered, Sarrabere said.

“We’re not trying to gig anybody,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m trying to get paid.”

Councilwoman Grace Winchell voted against authorizing condemnation because of the owners’ many years in the city, she said.

The city probably will not have to condemn the property, Cook said.

Although the city has filed suit in the past to take property in the redevelopment area, he said, agreements have always been reached.