Letter: Treatment of Gauchos Village is unfair

I have owned and operated the Gauchos Village restaurant in Glendale for 15 years. I have had to relocate three times, finally to 135 N. Maryland Ave.

Having been assured by the city’s redevelopment agency officials that the transition to this new location would go smoothly and believing that since the site had already housed a restaurant, there would be few if any regulatory requirements, my staff and I moved to the new location and were ready to open for business on Aug. 6.

Sadly, it was not to be and I am frankly at a loss as to why we are still receiving conflicting compliance instructions from city staff and are still unable to open. Each week since notifying the city that we were ready for inspection and approval, city inspectors have come to the location and issued a list of required changes. Many were very expensive — an entire sprinkler system, for example, which cost $110,000.

Each time my team and I would complete the list of required corrections and request a final inspection only to be handed a new list of requirements. To be subjected to this regulatory excess is a financial and emotional hardship that is completely unwarranted.

I continued to pay a staff of 42 employees until I ran out of money. Now I have no restaurant and no experienced staff to rely on when I reopen Gauchos Village. As of Oct. 1, I will be forced to default on my mortgage. I have been forced to invest more than $300,000 in compliance efforts. I acted in good faith when I committed to staying in Glendale. Please help fight for justice.

Kevin Aksacki
Glendale

Editor’s Note: The writer is president of Gauchos Village Inc.