Council Agrees to Help Car Dealer Move to Auto Center

Hoping to concentrate all its auto dealerships in a single location, the city of Oxnard has, for the first time, agreed to guarantee a loan to help relocate a car dealer from Oxnard Boulevard to the Oxnard Auto Center on Rose Avenue.

On Tuesday night, the council unanimously approved supporting a $250,000 loan from the Economic Development Corp., which is lending the money to Mike Wallace Ford for the dealership relocation.

The move is part of Oxnard’s efforts to entice shoppers to one area to do most of their shopping. There are retailers, such as Marshalls, Home Base and TJ Maxx, as well as restaurants near Rose Avenue and Ventura Boulevard to attract shoppers, city officials say.

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But merchants located near the existing Oxnard Boulevard dealership, which is between Robert Avenue and Glenwood Drive, are concerned that the city’s push to consolidate businesses to the north end of town is another example of the downtown area being abandoned.

“That money that Wallace Ford is getting and that the Rose [shopping center] is getting, has added to the further deterioration of downtown Oxnard,” said Tila Estrada, a downtown business owner for 20 years. “[The city’s] priorities are not in order. We thought they had their act together and they do not.”

Representatives of Wallace Ford declined comment on the dealership’s relocation plans.

The 9-year-old Oxnard Auto Center has gone through difficult financial times, with the original developer giving the project back to its lender. There are still three vacant lots in the auto center, which has not developed as soon as anticipated, city officials said.

But adding Mike Wallace Ford--one of the largest car dealerships in the city--will help strengthen the auto center, officials hope.

Some of the center’s current car dealers also want sales to pick up.

“We are doing OK,” said Lawrence Lee, general manager for the center’s Honda and Saturn dealerships. “We need to be better, but that time will come.”

It was important, to bring a business as large as Wallace Ford to the auto center, said Steve Kinney, president of the economic development agency.

“This move by Wallace is going to be a shot in the arm into the auto center,” said Kinney. “It will mean more sales tax (revenue) going to the city and more jobs. Anything that strengthens the auto center is something that we ought to support.”

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Last year, auto dealers generated $1.5 million in tax revenues for the city, which is up from the $1.3 million generated in 1992, according to city records. Although the tax collections have improved, they are is still relatively weak, Kinney said .

The Economic Development Corp., the city and Wallace Ford had discussed the dealership’s relocation for several years, said Jim Fabian, of the city’s finance department.

The city’s willingness to guarantee the auto dealership loan is linked to a sales tax arrangement made by the original auto center developer. The agreement calls for reimbursements to auto center dealerships based on the amount of sales tax revenue each dealer generates over the next 30 years.

This agreement virtually erases any risk for the city, because Oxnard can cover any missed payments from these tax revenues, according to Fabian.

Oxnard Boulevard’s other major dealer--Todey Chevrolet/Geo/Hyundai--said it is not interested in leaving its site. Although Todey officials considered a move to the auto center last year--and wants to open a separate car dealership in the auto center--they said there are very pleased with their boulevard site.

“We want to stay here,” said Gary Gruner, Todey’s manager. “People know where we are at. We think it will probably help us that we will be the only major dealer on Oxnard Boulevard.”

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But Estrada, who operates a real estate office downtown, said the Wallace relocation is just another example of the city’s inattention to redevelop the heart of Oxnard.

“As a downtowner, I have seen the city make mistake after mistake in planning,” she said. “The money for the Plaza Park improvement is now back on the back burner for the umpteenth time. The A Street redevelopment will not start before December. It has again been put on the back burner. I would like to be proud of downtown Oxnard but I’m not.”

Kinney said he understands Estrada’s concerns, but this kind of relocation is necessary to increase the economic strength of the city as a whole.

“We need a healthy, viable retail component and I believe that it needs to be located near the freeway in order to capture regional business,” said Kinney. “This is not to negate the problem that we have in downtown Oxnard.”

Although the city has yet to decide what should be done with the nearly three-acre site to be vacated by Wallace Ford, city planners intend to update a 1988 study that identified the needs of businesses along Oxnard Boulevard, according to Alex Herrera, an associate planner for the city. The study recommended either a shopping center or a hotel for the area, Herrera said.