BREA : City to Use Eminent Domain to Take Bar

The City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, has decided to acquire a local bar through eminent domain despite more than two hours of emotionally charged public testimony against the move.

Over the past three years, the agency has tried several times to buy out the tavern’s owner or move the business to another part of town. The city wants to acquire the property so it can go ahead with a $100-million redevelopment of the downtown area. The city plans to transform the 50 acres into a residential-commercial area that would include a shopping center and an entertainment corridor.

“It is my constitutional right to oppose this project and to do business without being encumbered by any government interference,” bar owner Seaton Greaves told the agency.

During the hearing Tuesday, William M. Vega, a resident who has been battling the city for years, waved an American flag, and three other residents who oppose the redevelopment project stood behind Greaves in a show of support.

“This eminent domain is a dirty law,” he said.

Vega’s mother, Marina, who lost property through eminent domain in 1989, accused the City Council and staff of taking property for personal gain.

“We are victims. . . . You are like the big lion ready to jump on the victims to raise your ego,” she said in a loud, trembling voice. “You don’t care. . . . It’s a shame!”

Others urged the council to preserve the bar, Sam’s Place, because of its historical significance. The two-story tavern was built around 1915.

Nevertheless, the agency voted 4 to 1 in favor of acquiring it.

Councilwoman Kathryn E. Wiser cast the dissenting vote.

“It is the absolutely wrong thing to do,” she said. “We are not bettering the public good, and we’re giving the city a terrible black eye.”

But the rest of the agency said that taking Greaves’ property is crucial to the elimination of blight in the downtown area and to begin the redevelopment work.

The city has been trying since 1992 to reach a settlement with Greaves, said Mayor Glenn G. Parker.

“We’ve been accused of not listening, but we have negotiated for a long time,” he said. “We do care.”

Last month, Greaves filed a lawsuit against the city in Orange County Superior Court, seeking to stop any eminent domain proceedings against his property at 117 S. Brea Blvd. No action has been taken in that suit.

Two weeks ago, the city offered Greaves $467,000 for his property. Greaves wants $1.5 million for the city to relocate his business to Brea Boulevard and Birch Street.

Negotiations will continue when city officials meet with Greaves on Wednesday, Parker said.

In related action, the agency voted 4 to 1, with Wiser dissenting, to acquire the Wienerschnitzel restaurant at 145 S. Brea Blvd. through eminent domain and spend $272,600 to relocate the business to city-owned land on the southeast corner of Lambert Road and Orange Avenue.

The two acquisitions were the last necessary before beginning the downtown redevelopment project, which is expected to break ground next month, city officials said.