Council Approves Pact to Demolish Buildings

The City Council this week approved an agreement that calls for dozens of vacant buildings on Bristol Street to be demolished in the coming months. Property owner Cooper Fellowship Inc. has three weeks to sign the pact.

The agreement calls for the city to waive $48,000 in unpaid water bills if CFI demolishes the buildings within 120 days. CFI, a Santa Ana company that operates recovery centers, may be granted an extension of 30 days if it can show “good cause,” said City Atty. Edward J. Cooper, who is not affiliated with CFI.

Also, the city would waive water and other connection fees for the next two years if CFI decided to redevelop the property, Cooper said, and would waive the fees for future demolition permits.

CFI attorney Ronald D. Davis said Tuesday that he expects his client to sign the agreement.

The city has long argued for demolition of the vacant apartment buildings at 2828 N. Bristol St., saying that they are a blight and attract prostitutes and drug dealers.

CFI had opposed demolition, saying it could not authorize such action because the Resolution Trust Corp., a now-defunct federal agency established to oversee the assets of failed savings and loans, had a stake in the property and would have to approve it.

The city won a lawsuit in 1994 to have the property boarded up. In a second lawsuit, in 1995, the city sought to have the buildings demolished. This week’s agreement settles the second case.