By Danny Teigman
Despite a unanimous decision by the city's Zoning Board of Appeals to grant developer David Shokrian of Sun America the off-street parking variance he applied for in June, the ruling removed only one obstacle from Shokrian's quest to build a proposed two-story headquarters.
The other obstacle is the library's plan to take the lot through eminent domain. Library Director George Trepp told the Herald last week that it is the board's intention to initiate eminent domain proceedings, which allow a public institution to seize property it does not own and use it for a public good, provided that there has been fair compensation.
"While I'm disappointed [with the zoning board's decision], the library is going to proceed with the [eminent domain] actions," Trepp said.
Trepp wrote a letter to the Herald outlining his reasoning for the seizure, which appears on page 25.
The 20-by-100-foot lot at 121 W. Park Ave., adjacent to the library's main building and is too narrow for any as-of-right development, was for years owned by the Long Beach Exempt Firefighters Benevolent Association, which refused to sell to the library despite numerous offers. In 2005, the association finally sold the lot - to Shokrian.
Despite the developer's ownership, the property has long been earmarked for future library expansion, Trepp said. The library has coveted the land since the mid 1990s, when its architects declared that upward expansion of the library from its current building would be cost-prohibitive, Trepp explained. "A structural engineer looked at it," he said. "His determination was that new foundations would be required, existing columns would need to be modified and supplemented, new bracing would need to be added and the entire roof would need to be removed and replaced with new framing."
Walter Belling, Shokrian's attorney, has said that while he remains skeptical that upward expansion would be as difficult as described, his client has offered the library "air rights" to his future building, which would allow the library to build a third-floor extension over Shokrian's building.
Trepp, however, said he remains unconvinced that the idea would be workable. "We couldn't figure out the feasibility of combining the two buildings given the fact that ours is a public building requiring access," he said.
Any action taken by the library would come through the school board, which owns the library and its property.
Board of Education Trustee Roy Lester, who described himself as a strong proponent of the library's cause, said he expects the eminent domain proceedings to begin soon and is optimistic that there will be a ruling in the library's favor. "Eminent domain is pretty cut-and-dried," he said. "If a municipality proves that they need the property for the proper purpose, it will be granted."
"I'm not an expert on eminent domain," Belling responded. "But if we're willing to give them the air rights at no cost to the taxpayers, why would they want to spend public funds for a legal battle and acquisition of the property?"
Lester also said that the only outstanding question left to decide was the amount of compensation Shokrian would receive. Although Shokrian purchased the property for an estimated $300,000, the zoning board ruling, which granted a variance that will allow construction to proceed even without enough parking, has increased the value of the land. "What the granting of the variance has done was cost the taxpayers of Long Beach more money," Lester said.
To be sure, there are segments of the community that would like to see the library spend its tax dollars elsewhere. Kathi Slattery, president of the West End Neighbors Association, said she felt the public would be better served with refurbished branch libraries in the West End and Point Lookout. "Many people feel spending this kind of money when people are reeling from a 25 percent tax increase is a luxury," she said. "Ultimately the residents will pay for this."
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