A Mechanic Presses Fight to Keep Shop in Torrance : Condemnation: A judge is expected to rule today in the latest round of an eight-year battle over eminent domain.

Walter J. (Jake) Egan, the maverick mechanic, hasn’t yet exhausted all of his legal options to save his aging muffler shop. But the clock is running.

On Wednesday, Egan’s attorney and lawyers for the city of Torrance squared off in Los Angeles Superior Court for the latest round of arguments in the city’s eight-year battle to take possession of Egan’s car repair business.

And when it was over, Egan, wearing his light blue auto shop shirt in sharp contrast to the dark suits that surrounded him, vowed to keep fighting.

“We’ve lived like this almost every day since January, not knowing what would happen next,” he said. “There’s no reason to stop now.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victor E. Chavez, after listening to arguments for close to 30 minutes, is expected to rule today on the city’s motion to immediately condemn the property and displace Egan’s shop.

Chavez sat quietly while listening to Christopher Sutton, Egan’s attorney, argue that the city’s desire to take over the property as early as Wednesday was unfounded. He said that, despite years of legal skirmishes, the city has yet to make clear why it must possess the property so soon.

City officials say the shop must be demolished to make way for the widening of Torrance Boulevard between Western and Cabrillo avenues. But Sutton argued that the city has a different motive--pleasing the owners of the new $225-million American Honda Motor Co. headquarters next door.

“What we have here is that they are simply trying to get him off the property as soon as possible, even though they have no immediate need for the land,” Sutton said. “There is in fact no traffic-related basis for the street widening. The real goal is to get Mr. Egan off the property and sell it to Honda.”

However, Angelo Palmieri, an attorney representing the city of Torrance, said it was following the normal course of events in a condemnation case. He argued that, as unfortunate as it is that Egan would have to move his business elsewhere, it is a necessary evil because the city wants to widen the street where the Aable Muffler Shop is located.

“Mr. Egan is fighting the wrong battle,” Palmieri told the judge. “There is plenty of other property available to him. There is no judicial remedy for a relocation dispute. No amount of hyperbole can change the facts. There is only one reason for these condemnation proceedings, and that is the straightening out of a street.”

This week’s legal standoff is the latest in the ongoing battle between Egan and the city. The controversy began in 1983 when the city tried to include Egan’s property in the Honda redevelopment project. After Egan sued, the Torrance City Council agreed to exempt his parcel from the project--even agreeing to pay his legal fees.

Several years later, though, the city began work on plans to improve Torrance Boulevard, saying it needed 18 feet of Egan’s property to straighten a curve in the road.

After numerous court hearings, another Superior Court judge ruled last year that the city could begin condemnation proceedings against the shop. But the matter has continued to drift slowly through the courts.

A civil trial is tentatively scheduled for January to consider Egan’s claim that the city acted improperly in pushing ahead with the eminent domain case. In addition, attorneys for Egan maintain the city’s offer to buy Egan’s business and the land it sits on for $87,000 is “ridiculously underpriced.” Sutton said that Egan is seeking more than $1 million in compensation from the city.

Egan almost didn’t get his day in court this week. Sutton earlier filed a motion to withdraw from the case because he hadn’t received any legal fees from his client. But Egan, who said he has spent more than $400,000 in legal fees since the case began, wired Sutton $50,000 on Tuesday to retain his services.

“This is not your usual condemnation proceeding,” Sutton said. “In fact, there’s nothing usual about this case at all.”