Livelihoods in limbo

Deirdre Newman

When Roger MacGregor started his yacht-building business on the

Westside of Costa Mesa in 1969, the area was the capital of the

yacht-building industry.

Over the years, businesses have moved away or folded, leaving

MacGregor’s Yachts as the last vestige of the area’s yacht-building

glory.

His building is a landmark of sorts -- a vivid illustration of

form meeting function, with a sleek nautical design, a glass facade

and a boat on top of it.

MacGregor, his wife and two children parlayed MacGregor’s hobby

into a company with an annual revenue of about $10 million.

But MacGregor’s livelihood has been threatened by the prospect of

the city’s declaring the area part of the downtown redevelopment

zone.

For the city to do so, MacGregor’s property would have to be

deemed blighted or be necessary to round out the proposed

redevelopment area.

This would clear the way for the city to take his property through

eminent domain and wipe out the remaining piece of this area’s

history. MacGregor said he would not be able to move his business

anywhere else because the permits he has are specific to the

Westside.

“The eminent domain is just fatal,” MacGregor said.

On Monday, the Planning Commission designated preliminary

boundaries for a 434-acre area that may be added to the downtown

redevelopment zone. On Feb. 10, the redevelopment agency will vote on

these boundaries.

If they are approved, it will set the stage for independent

consultants to do an in-depth assessment of blight in the area,

gauging properties on adverse physical and economic conditions. The

redevelopment agency has not yet decided if it will invoke its right

to eminent domain and, if so, on what types of properties.

MacGregor’s plight is repeated throughout the proposed additional

area, as about 620 properties are affected. The area has served as an

incubator of sorts for many small companies, MacGregor’s wife, Mary

Lou, said, and many other hard-working owners who spent decades

investing blood, sweat and tears in their businesses, could see it

all disappear if the city exercises its power of eminent domain.

One of those is Dan Gribble, owner of Boatswain’s Locker Inc. on

West 18th Street, which distributes marine engines and parts. Gribble

constructed his main building in 1978.

In 1999, he completely remodeled the building’s interior and gave

the outside landscaping a face-lift. He also took over a lease on the

building next door and completely renovated that. All told, he spent

about $150,000 in the process.

He wouldn’t have fixed up either property if he had known the

specter of eminent domain would be hovering over his head like a

black rain cloud just a few years later, Gribble said.

“I probably would have considered moving,” Gribble said with a

sigh.

Gribble said he opposes being part of the redevelopment area

because he doesn’t believe he would be fairly compensated for his

property through eminent domain.

“It becomes a matter of what’s fair value and the cost to relocate

my business and lost business -- the city would have to pay for all

that,” Gribble said. “I don’t see how that would be affordable.”

Another veteran industrial property owner worried about eminent

domain is John Hawley, owner of Railmakers Inc.

Hawley started the business that makes stainless steel hardware

for boats in Costa Mesa in 1969 and moved to the Westside a year

later. Hawley said the weather and the demographics are conducive to

a prosperous business.

“The reason we went to the Westside is, we do a lot of welding and

it’s much cooler down here, and also at that time, we had a lot of

major customers down here that we still do,” Hawley said.

Hawley is worried about his property being labeled blighted

because of an old, dilapidated single-family residence in the front.

Hawley said he has been prevented from developing the house because

of various city policies over the years.

So Hawley said he will demolish the house and use it for parking,

“so it will be just be a nice, green space.”

Even if Hawley’s property is not deemed blighted, it could still

be included in the redevelopment zone to ensure a contiguous area. So

the threat of eminent domain still looms.

“It’s a threat to my life’s work, and their talk about ‘If it has

to happen, we’ll pay you what it’s worth,’ that worth is meaningless

to me,” Hawley said. “I would not be able to replace it, certainly

not in this area.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].