STANTON : Legion Post in a Battle Over Its HQ

Bill Snyder used to penetrate the lines of enemy territory as a Marine in North Korea. His brigade “almost went clear to the Chinese border,” he said.

These days, Snyder, 63, is fighting over flowers, sprinklers and parking spaces at Magnolia and Cerritos streets.

As commander of American Legion Post 783, Snyder is battling to move the post into its new headquarters. Before it can start operating there, though, the city wants the legion and property owner Dilip Parikh to make improvements, including upgrading the landscaping and adding 70 parking spots and new outdoor lighting.

The battle began in May, when the post was forced from its old home by the $9,700 monthly rent. Since then, the post has put its business on hold, Snyder said. It has no place to hold its fund-raisers, barbecues and rummage sales. Much of the proceeds from these benefits go back into the community through charitable donations, he said.

“We’re being held hostage,” said Snyder, who sports a long, gray beard. “It’s going to cost thousands of dollars to make all those changes, let’s not kid ourselves, and we just don’t have the money.”

The city’s Planning Commission, however, isn’t giving any ground. Twice in the last two months it has rejected the legion’s requests for a conditional use permit--and what has become a delicate decision is now in the hands of the City Council.

Last week, the council delayed a vote until mid-September.

Despite the appeal to the council, Mark D. Lloyd, the city’s planning manager, said the property will have to comply with city codes before the permit can be granted.

“It’s the city’s responsibility to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare,” he said.

Without more parking spots, an overflow of cars could spill into the residential streets, causing parking problems, Lloyd said.

Without new lights, the area could lure criminals, and the city code requires all new tenants to do their part in sprucing up the parking lot before getting the permit.

Tom DiCarlo, who owns a nearby bar in the Magnolia Center, sides with the city.

“The (center) parking lot is full as it is, and people aren’t going to park a block away and walk to my place in the dark,” he said. “If they get in there, my business is doomed to failure, and this is my sole source of income.”

A traffic expert hired by DiCarlo found on a recent weekend that the existing parking lot was 95% full most of the time, DiCarlo said.

But Snyder said opponents--including other businesses in Magnolia Center--are overestimating the post’s impact.

The 600-plus membership might seem large, but really only 50 to 100 people are involved on a full-time basis, he said.

One solution would put more parking spots in the back of the center, but a legal agreement between the two property owners designates the area as a loading and unloading zone, so a compromise would have to be struck, Lloyd said.

Even then, Doug Currier, who lives in the apartment complex out back, would try to stop it.

“I can already see it,” he said. “Engines revving, car alarms going off, a lot of people leaving the bars here canned. I’m not talking about the Legion people, I’m just talking in general.”

Such an attitude disheartens Snyder, who assumed the position of commander three months ago and now envisions terrible squabbles ahead.

“We were here long before the city was even a city,” he said. “Couldn’t they give us a break?”