Council Zaps Plan for Video Arcade

A vacant lot on Commonwealth Avenue will remain empty now that city officials have rejected a proposal to open an amusement center there.

The property owner, Bert Sheadani, wanted a permit to open an arcade at 745 W. Commonwealth Ave. and put in 40 video games. But City Council members this week denied the application by upholding a recent Planning Commission decision against the business.

Residents of the community convinced officials that such a business does not belong so close to their homes. They said they feared that the arcade would increase vandalism and loitering in the area and attract “undesirable” people.

“We deserve to preserve the quality of life here in the Fullerton community,” said Tina Truebe, who spoke on behalf of her family and dozens of her neighbors on Amerige Avenue. “We feel this type of business is better suited in a more centralized commercial zone.”

Other residents said an arcade on the lot, which has been vacant since 1987, would lower their property values and increase traffic and crime in the neighborhood.

Councilman Don Bankhead called the proposed business “completely incompatible with the area.”

Said Councilman F. Richard Jones: “I say location, location, location, and this isn’t in the right location.”

Only Mayor Chris Norby sided with the property owner, calling the arcade a “legitimate business.”

“Oftentimes concerns and fears that people have are not borne out,” he said. “The owner has the right to have a legitimate business on his property as long as it doesn’t interfere with other people’s right to enjoy their property. In this case, I really don’t believe that it will, but we’ll never know.”