Merchants Fear Being Ousted if Casino Proceeds : Gambling: Proposed card club could bring $10 million a year in revenue to city, but business owners worry that it could displace them.
A card casino proposed for 10 acres of prime Bellflower real estate is barely off the drawing board, but businessmen along Artesia Boulevard, who could be forced to relocate by the project, already fear they’re facing a stacked deck.
The casino backers are throwing around some impressive figures--estimating that the casino would generate $10 million a year for the cash-starved city. And the list of people involved in the casino partnership reads like a Who’s Who in Bellflower politics: a politically connected realtor, a planning commissioner, a former mayor.
On top of everything else, the proposed site is in a redevelopment zone. Looking at this new hand they’ve been dealt, some property owners on those 10 acres worry the city would be tempted to use condemnation powers to force them out.
“This is the only business we’ve got,” said Larry G. Saarloos, part owner of Ezell’s Nursery Supply. “It’s been in my family since 1945.”
Thus far, local businessmen have heard only rumors about the casino. But the proposal will have its first public airing Monday night, when card club proponents will ask the City Council to put the issue before the voters.
The newly organized development company, Cougar Club Limited, has offered to pay about $40,000 for a special election on the issue.
Cougar Club has 18 partners, said attorney Jack Stanaland, the principal partner and the son of former Councilwoman Carolyn Stanaland. Also on the list are Planning Commissioner Paul Benjamin; former Mayor Ed Drayer; former City Administrator Jean Coch; and Virginia Boggs, who employs Mayor Bob Stone’s wife, Joan, and also owns an automotive center with Mayor Pro Tem Ken Cleveland.
Of the eight businesses located on the parcel, Cougar Club partners own two--an apartment building and a trailer park--and are negotiating to buy two small motels, Jack Stanaland said.
As proposed, the $40-million project would have 200 card tables in a 150,000-square-foot casino. It would also include two restaurants and a banquet facility and would bring more than 2,000 jobs to Bellflower, Stanaland said.
But at least three of the business owners in the area don’t want to make way for the development.
“There are some things in life you just can’t duplicate. This corner is one of them,” said Ron Anema, co-owner of J & J Truck Sales near Artesia and Lakewood boulevards, just feet from the 91 Freeway off-ramp.
“I won’t sell this place.”
Like Saarloos, Anema intended to pass his business on to his sons, right where it is. Larry May, owner of the Nu-Way Mattress Factory, has similar plans, even though his son is just 8 and is mainly interested in bouncing on the mattresses stacked in the showroom.
May’s business cards proudly proclaim, “Same Location Since 1939.”
But, like many other cities, Bellflower is strapped for cash, said Cleveland, who favors the proposal. The 1992-93 city budget included no cost-of-living hikes for employees, cut $45,500 in aid to social welfare agencies and put off $12 million in planned street repairs. With a current annual budget of about $14 million, a $10-million boost in the tax base could drastically alter the city’s fortunes.
The revenue developers say they can produce is approximately equal to that of Bell Gardens’ successful Bicycle Club or to the Commerce Casino.
Other local casinos have not fared as well, however. The city of Bell was forced to lay off 10 employees after its tax revenues dipped when the Regency Club abruptly closed after the owner reportedly left the country. State alcohol control agents have attempted to shut down another club in Huntington Park, citing numerous arrests and gang fights at the club. That casino remains open, but brings the city just $300,000 a year in tax revenue.
With Compton planning a card club nearby, and clubs being considered by Pico Rivera, Cypress and Stanton, some believe the market could quickly be filled.
But the development partners see plenty of room for growth in card gambling, Stanaland said. And worries about the group forcing smaller businesses off their land are premature, he said.
If the council approves the ordinance, putting the issue on a special August ballot, Cougar Club will spend the summer negotiating with the businesses to reach buyout agreements, he said.
When asked what developers would do if a small business refused to sell, Stanaland said, “Well, this is a redevelopment project area. If we didn’t develop it, someone else would.”
This area of Bellflower has been part of a redevelopment district since 1991. But the city’s redevelopment plan was challenged in court by a school district, two colleges and Los Angeles County soon after adoption. The issue remains in litigation, although the schools have settled their part of the suit.
The county disagrees with the city about what percentage of redevelopment sales tax is due the county. A trial has been set for June 14. The issue could be settled by the end of the summer, just in time for an August election, said city Planning Director Bruce Leach.
All this time Anema has known that the redevelopment plan included the possibility of property being seized by the city. He knows that if his property is condemned, the city would have to pay him for it and relocate his business, but says no other area in Bellflower has the visibility and the ease of access he enjoys.
“I understand that he’s comfortable there,” said Councilman Bill Pendleton, “but I also know what’s best for the city. That is the most lucrative area in town, and if you’re going to have a card club, you need lots of access and visibility.”
Pendleton, who described himself as an unabashed supporter of the casino proposal, says he believes voters will approve the proposal. And the revenues produced by J & J Trucks, Ezell’s Nursery, a large liquor store and the mattress factory will seem like nothing compared to what the card club will bring in, he said.
Money, jobs and new development all sound good to Councilwoman Ruth Gilson. But she is also concerned about the businesses already located in the area.
“I’m real torn about the whole thing,” Gilson said. “Sure, we need the money, but I don’t want to be in the position of forcing someone off their land.”
