06/25/1984 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . with what they had told him and, as a former Redevelopment Commissioner, he felt their case had a great deal of merit. He pointed out that Mr. Pulido had stated that he was willing to do whatever was necessary to adapt his business so that it could be successfully integrated into this proposed shopping center. Mr. Godinez stated that he hoped that the Agency would give favorable consideration to the proposals made by the Pulido family. Mr. Hal Butts addressed the Commission and read a prepared statement in support of the Pulido family's position. Ms. Sharon Brown, Mr. Bob Lopez and Mr. Allen Woo all spoke in support of the Pulido family's position. In rebuttal, Mr. John MacLaurin of Urbatec stated that his company very much wanted the support of the community. He added that they had given consideration to the incorporation of Ace Muffler into their proposal for the A-lO site and that, if it could have been done, they would have done it. He stated further that the Urbatec staff felt that the Ace Muffler building was incompatible to the proposed shopping center. He pointed out that Urbatec had been invited by the Agency to make this proposal and that they had worked very hard to present a viable one. He added that many firms such as Gemco, Ralph's and several other prominent super-markets had turned the site down because they did not like the location and the demographics. He again pointed out that Urbatec was most enthusiastic about their proposal and sincerely sought the support of the community. The City Manager stated that the Agency had staff's recommendation and that it was the only one staff was prepared to offer. He added that he realized this type of decision was not easy to make. He pointed out that, unfortunately, in the course of discussions, emotions could run extemely high and issues could be broadened beyond business decisions into ethnic and/or racial types of decisions. He stated that he did not think decisions should be made emotionally. He added that his only concern was that, if this proposal was not approved, prospective developers in the future might be reluctant to deal with the Agency. The City Manager pointed out that the Agency had issued an exclusive right to negotiate with Urbatec and that his recommendation was that the Agency continue in its negotiations with them. He added that, if this was not done, it would, in his opinion, have a negative long-range impact on other potential developments in the City of Santa Ana. In response to a question from Mrs. McGuigan, Mr. MacLaurin stated that Urbatec's architects had gone over the 5. ~~