BREA : Blind Inventor Fights City’s Eviction Notice

Inventor Michael Kunec has spent much of his life working toward progress. Now he finds himself standing straight in its path.

For more than two decades, the 73-year-old has operated out of a cluttered warehouse at 113 Brea Blvd., tinkering with potential inventions that range from medical supplies to computer technology for the handicapped.

But two weeks ago, Kunec received a notice from the Brea Redevelopment Agency demanding that he leave the building he owns within six days or face eviction.

Kunec’s 3,500-square-foot warehouse is located on the site of a planned 60-acre shopping, entertainment and housing development that Brea officials hope will breathe new life into the city’s downtown. The area has slowly stagnated since the Brea Mall opened in the late 1970s.

Brea officials hope to begin construction on the development this summer. The City Council, acting as Brea’s Redevelopment Agency, voted to condemn Kunec’s building last fall.

When Kunec received the eviction notice, he was negotiating with the city over the price of his building.

He has since gotten Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Eleanor Palk to delay the eviction at least until May 22, when she will hold a hearing in a lawsuit filed against Brea by Kunec, several other local merchants and the Brea Small Business Coalition, who charge that the town’s relocation plan is flawed.

Coalition members are arguing that the city does not have a comprehensive relocation plan, as is required by law, and should not undertake to move anyone until it does.

Brea officials dispute the allegations. “We know our relocation plan is in order,” said Assistant City Manager Tim O’Donnell.

Kunec could be the first business person evicted during Brea’s recent period of redevelopment, officials said.

Through negotiations, Brea has managed to avoid eviction proceedings in relocating 41 downtown businesses since 1986 to make way for redevelopment projects. Ten of these establishments are no longer operating.

Yet despite the city’s success in avoiding evictions, relations between city officials and many current small business owners have become increasingly strained, with merchants often feeling that the city is not negotiating in good faith.

Foster Kinney, a real estate agent who represents Kunec in his dealings with the Brea Redevelopment Agency, said, “It sometimes seems like eviction and the (Orange County) marshal are used as extra negotiating tools.”

Kunec, however, bears no animosity toward the city.

“I understand their problem. I’m still willing to move if they find me an appropriate location,” Kunec said.

Therein lies a problem. City officials are willing to pay Kunec the appraised value of his warehouse--$210,000.

Kunec would also receive additional money after relocation costs are factored in.

City officials aren’t sure how much that would end up totaling, but they agree it would not approach the $450,000 Kunec is demanding for his site and removal to new premises.

Kunec, legally blind and unable to drive a car, says that for an amount such as Brea appears willing to pay him, he could not find a replacement location in an area with public transportation.

“They’ve offered me enough money to relocate in a burned-out area of Los Angeles,” Kunec said.

Brea officials counter that they have proposed several acceptable sites in northeastern Orange County but that Kunec has dismissed them as unsatisfactory.

“The law requires us to pay fair market value on the property we are purchasing, not at replacement property costs,” said O’Donnell.

Negotiations between the city and Kunec are continuing. Kunec is optimistic that a settlement will be reached, but not that it will enable him remain in Brea.

“I’d like to stay in Brea. I have friends here,” said Kunec, who has been credited with inventing a blood pump used in heart surgery. “But I don’t think it is a possibility unless (the Redevelopment Agency) leaves me alone.”