Proposal for Another Auto Dealer Brings Out Protesters in El Monte

El Monte is home to a plethora of car dealerships and city leaders are proud of it.

So some residents are questioning why the city is considering a proposal to bulldoze a church, apartments and a block of homes to make way for yet another auto retailer.

“We don’t need another car dealership,” said Lourdes Lopez, whose Granada Avenue home could be knocked down to make way for a GMC Pontiac dealership if the city gets its way.

“I’ve lived here 21 years,” she said. “My four children grew up here. I don’t want to move to Chino or Rancho Cucamonga.” Lopez is a member of Neighborhood in Action, which took its opposition to the City Council on Tuesday night. About 100 placard-carrying protesters packed the council chamber.

City officials say it is simply a matter of economics. Car dealerships and their tax dollars are the lifeblood of the city of 116,000 residents, officials say.

“We’re strong in car dealerships and they’ve allowed us to hire police and pave the streets,” said El Monte City Administrator Harold Johanson. “You won’t find a pothole in El Monte.”

The debate over the proposed project is part of a larger one facing cities across the region: As cities become more densely populated, how do they balance increasingly competing needs for land?

Last month, the City Council in this gritty blue-collar community seven miles east of downtown Los Angeles directed the city staff to enter negotiations with Scott Pontiac GMC for up to six months to relocate the dealership to a prime four- to six-acre site along the north side of the San Bernardino Freeway. The site is bordered on the west by Santa Anita Avenue and on the east by Granada Avenue.

The new dealership would replace aging apartment buildings, a Korean Presbyterian church and a few houses along Santa Anita’s east side, as well as a block and a half of single-family bungalows dating from the 1930s and an apartment building on the west side of Granada.

Johanson told the crowd Tuesday that the proposal was in preliminary stages and several steps involving public input would have to occur before any final decision is made.

El Monte has acquired homes and even a church in the past to make way for some of its other car dealerships, Johanson said. The city could use the power of eminent domain to acquire the properties, but its generous offers usually entice property owners to sell, he said.

If the city does not help relocate Scott Pontiac GMC, city officials said, the dealership might leave the community.

The proposed demolitions should come as no surprise to residents of the neighborhood, because there have been meetings for a year and half on developing the area, officials said. Juan Mireles, El Monte assistant manager, said a project area committee was formed with citizens input and the city agreed to limit development to the site and not cut further into the residential area.

Residents, however, complain that El Monte is in desperate need of more housing, not another place to buy a car.

“As a land-use decision, this simply doesn’t make sense when Southern California is suffering a housing crunch,” said Norma Edith Garcia, a leader of Neighborhood in Action. “To tear down two blocks of housing is ridiculous. We’ve got 65 car dealerships in El Monte. Isn’t that enough?”

The city should be looking to build an urban village with retailers and housing that residents desperately need, said Garcia, a UCLA-educated urban planner. She lives on an adjacent street that would be within earshot of the dealership.

Maria Rodriguez, 34, whose Granada Avenue house would be bulldozed, said the majority of homes involved are in good shape. “This is one of the better areas. This isn’t a blighted neighborhood. They’re forcing hard-working residents to move somewhere else,” said Rodriguez, who paid $144,000 for her house 12 years ago. “A lot of people on this street are scared to say anything.”

City officials say they plan to install a 20-foot-wide green space between the rear of the proposed dealership and nearby homes.

Officials also say they would like nothing more than to land a supermarket for the city, but such entities aren’t interested in El Monte because they perceive its population, largely working class and 72% Latino, as a poor customer base.

“The reality is, the city has some very specific demographics,” Johanson said. That, he said, is why El Monte has ensured the success of auto retail giants such as Longo Toyota.

City officials say that Scott Pontiac GMC’s owner, Scott Gunderson, is a car dealer with an outstanding record.

“He knows how to do business,” said Councilman Art Barrios.

He said the council has yet to make any final decision.

“Right now, we’ve told the staff to go out and look. We haven’t given them any money to acquire the land,” he said. “It’s inevitable that something is going happen there. Houses don’t belong there. . . . We’re trying to see what is the best use for the property.

“There is always someone who doesn’t like progress,” he said.