SANTA ANA : Latino Food Market Unexpectedly Rejected

After one City Council member unexpectedly changed her vote, a proposal to build a $6-million supermarket in downtown specializing in Latino food has been narrowly defeated.

The market has had a tortured history, having been the subject of three votes in the past two months. But approval was expected Monday, given the return of a City Council member previously shut out of the debate because of a conflict of interest.

In early August, the council deadlocked 3 to 3 on the Gonzalez Northgate Market, proposed to be located on a vacant lot and an auto repair store site near 4th and French streets.

Councilman Tony Espinoza did not vote because he had received a campaign contribution from one of the market principals. But the statute of limitations on his conflict of interest expired one week later, and Espinoza then voted with the council majority to hold another round of public hearings.

During those public hearings Monday, Councilwoman Patricia McGuigan broke with her voting record and opposed the market, which was defeated by a vote of 4 to 3.

Twenty-five members of the community spoke to the council, with just over half opposed. Most community and council members who opposed the market said they did because it was too big for the proposed site.

Union representatives complained that the Northgate Market chain does not hire union workers, and others suggested that entertainment or service-based businesses such as law offices would be a better fit for the site.

McGuigan said she switched her vote because she had erred in the earlier decision. She said she decided to oppose the market because the landscape and parking requirements the city would waive were too significant.

“It’s land use,” McGuigan said, explaining her decision. “It’s nothing else.”