HomeMy WebLinkAboutREDEVELOPMENT AGENCY Main-Pier Public Comments-(Agenda Iti►
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120 Main St.
Huntington Beach
92648
536-4228
Honorable Mayor,
Members of City Council
City Administrator Uberaga
Dir. of Redevelopment, B. Kaiser
Please bear with me and please read through this letter as I
speak for a -more detailed explanation of what I would like to
say to you.
Seven years' ago, I borrowed $500 from a friend, bought an
armful of ladies 'clothing and started to sell it here and
there. After two years, I came to Main St., Huntington Beach
(1986). Through good budgeting and frugality, I was able to
pay a deposit plus first and last months rent and buy
merchandise to open a good business at 111 Main. I had to
sell my car, but it was worth' it. Business grew every year
until 1989. That was when I decided to buy the house where I
now live, so that I could be closer than the 40 miles drive
each way before... a very long commute which meant leaving my
two children with a baby sitter most of the time. My hard
work had paid off.
But then, building through redevelopment commenced, with
streets torn up, workmen shouting at my customers as they
came to my store, dirt everywhere and indeed ruining some of
my stock ... well it took a great toll on my business. Combine
that. with the pier closing, the decline in the economy,
business started dropping in Sept. 1989. As a meansof
conserving, I started doing my own gardening and as a result
of a lawnmower accident, most of my left hand was
traumatically amputated. 1990 has been a hard year for me.
It seems that everything has been going against me.
Especially after Mr. Abdelmuti's building began losing bricks
during the driving of pilings for the new pier and the city
condemned his building... fences were up, blocking the
sidewalk, signs indicated "sidewalk closed, use other side of
street". You can imagine what this did to my business..
Shortly after the condemnation Mr. Abdelmuti has a
"termination.of lease" notice hand delivered.by courier to me
on'Dec. 12,1990, siting section of the -lease "in the event
landlord must renovate this building to conform with the city
earthquake code" as reason for termination.
It is my contention this is not a valid reason for
termination of the lease as this was not given as reason for
the building being reconstructed. In fact my own building
was not involved but was to be occupied by Mr. Abdelmuti's
business during his other construction. Now it seems that
this building is part of the redevelopment project to take
place in partnership with Mr. Abdelmuti and the city of
Huntington Beach.
With regard to the slanderous statement in the public agenda
that my lease was terminated for non-payment of rent and for
abandonment of the premises is ludicrous. It was Mr.
Abdelmuti himself that suggested I not pay any more rent
until my relocation to another space had t ken place and when
I pointed out that I still had deposit - )p last month rent
credit that left.onlymonth owed, He came to me just
last week and suggeste ;�qwe cancel any debt. I wondered at
that time why but attributed it to his kindliness. Now I,see
the truth...he knew then that my relocation was incorrectly
being turned down by the city for false and slanderous
excuses. Regarding abandonment of the premises, it was
beccause of the notice from Mr. Abdelmuti and with his
assistance that I moved to 120 Main St. Certainly this could
in no way be called abandonment. It was against my will that
I left.
I am most distressed over the slanderous statements in this
public agenda that could only serve to harm my reputation as
a business woman. I currently am in good standing with the
Dunn and Bradstreet listing. This could be very harmful to
me in the- local business community and couldeven spread to
my creditors.
I demand a public and written apology for the slanderous
statements in the public agenda and reconsideration of your
stand on relocation assistance. I do not expect a large sum
since my relocation was fairly simple, however I have been in
the community for over five years and know that you have
given relocation expenses to some who moved in to their
locations with full knowledge that relocation was inevitable
and would result in assistance. Their are other relocation
compensations that also lead me to believe that legally I
have more right to assistance than others. I will be happy
to discuss this in private.