GILROY
– The city’s deal is done for a busy Mexican eatery. A long-dead
Chinese restaurant, however, may require a fight.
GILROY – The city’s deal is done for a busy Mexican eatery. A long-dead Chinese restaurant, however, may require a fight.
The city is paying to move El Grullense Tacos as it continues its quest to buy land for an art and culture center downtown at Monterey, Seventh and Eigleberry streets. The locally owned taco stand – known for inexpensive, flavorful food in the style of the Mexican province Jalisco – will move from the corner of Monterey and Seventh into a now-vacant storefront across Monterey and a half-block north, next to Predator’s Archery.
City staff and property owner George Besson Jr., of Gilroy, have settled on a $300,000 purchase price for the lot that El Grullense leases. City Facilities Development Manager Bill Headley estimated the cost of relocating the eatery at between $100,000 and $150,000. The City Council is expected to approve the sale tonight.
At the same meeting, Council members will consider taking a step toward forcing 83-year-old Loi Dong to sell his boarded-up Leyon Restaurant, closed for the past nine years. Through the eminent domain process, a court could force Dong to sell his property to the city for what the court deems a fair market price. The city would first have to establish its public need for the property.
Besson and Dong are two of five property owners the city must deal with to secure the space for the art and culture center, which many hope will be the anchor and emotional heart of a revitalized downtown. City staff estimate the center would cost $9 million to build and would be finished between 2008 and 2010.
Hugo Llamas, of Gilroy, who owns El Grullense along with his brother and cousin in Los Banos, said Friday he hopes the restaurant will move in four to five months.
The new location has its down sides, Llamas said. It lacks a parking lot, which the present location has, but “it’s the best we can get,” Llamas said.
Llamas and his family also own an El Grullense on First Street, one in Hollister and one in Los Banos.
Ongoing negotiations
Talks may soon reopen with the one property owner city officials thought they had a deal with – 102-year-old Baleriana Oyao, who lives in one of two houses she owns on Seventh Street.
Oyao previously accepted the city’s offer of $310,000 for the houses, but now her family has appointed a new representative for her.
“We have a signed agreement. Whether that agreement will have to be renegotiated remains to be seen,” Headley said.
One of Oyao’s conditions is that she live in her house until she dies. Headley said city officials are “sympathetic” to this concern. Oyao’s grandfather lived to be 117, according to family members.
Negotiations are still under way with the Salvation Army, which runs a thrift store on Monterey Street, and the Gera family, which owns a vacant lot on Eigleberry Street and two vacant Monterey storefronts.
Loi Dong’s building
Dong, a World War II U.S. Army veteran and Gilroy resident of 60 years, has insisted he is willing to sell his building for a fair price, but the city’s $97,000 offer is far too low for him.
That offer was what a city-hired expert said the former restaurant was worth. Dong then brought in his own appraiser, at the city’s expense, who valued the building at $330,000. City officials wanted a third appraiser of their choice, but Dong refused access.
Therefore, city staff are recommending a resolution of necessity, the first step in the eminent domain process.
Dong has compared eminent domain to communism in his native China. He would light himself on fire before giving in to the city, he has claimed.
The dispute is over the building’s condition, Headley acknowledged. Dong closed his restaurant more than nine years ago, partly due to the death of his wife but partly because of water damage. Dong said root systems from a city tree in front of his store plugged a drainpipe and allowed water to accumulate on his roof.
Dong has said his building is in good shape, except for the ceiling, and that $2,000 to $3,000 in repairs would be enough to reopen it.
The city disagrees, but Headley said the city is required by law to make sure Dong does not suffer financially.
“Ultimately, fairness will prevail, even if it has to prevail in front of a judge,” Headley said.
Peter Crowley covers public safety for The Dispatch. You can reach him at pc******@************ch.com or 847-7109.
