Rebuttal -- Brett Hemphill

David Gruder’s name consistently appears as the only one in print who

supports the widening of East 17th Street.

An uninformed person would think that the 17th Street Merchants and

Community Assn. is dominated by small businesses.

The truth of the matter is that a majority of the volunteers and

supporters of this group are residents. Some happen to own businesses and

are also residents.

Gruder writes about the city survey of residents and the fact that

traffic is a concern. East 17th Street is never mentioned in the survey.

In fact, the survey was speaking of traffic congestion throughout the

city. I would suggest that traffic is a major concern of any suburban

city in the United States.

Next, Gruder claims he has seen some of the petitions that were

presented to the City Council. He suspects that over 50% of the

signatures are from people outside of Costa Mesa. The fact is, that the

petition was circulated primarily through the businesses and shows that

people from all over Orange County shop on East 17th Street.

In fact, my business attracts customers from Los Angeles, Santa

Barbara and San Diego. The city of Costa Mesa should love the fact that

businesses are creating this sales tax revenue for them.

The issue of cut-through traffic continually arises. A lot of this

traffic is created because of poor zoning. Dozens of businesses are

scattered throughout the East Side residential neighborhood. I do not

think widening East 17th Street will dramatically reduce cut-through

traffic. Nor do I think that additional business will be created by the

additional lanes, as Gruder suggests. I think the shopping environment

will be destroyed by expanding East 17th Street to six lanes.

If the widening is allowed, small, locally owned businesses will

continue to fail due to the poor access and inconvenience of shopping on

East 17th Street. Many buildings on this street are on leased land. Thus,

as stores become vacant, landlords will be desperate to fill the void in

order to make monthly lease and/or mortgage payments. This desperation

will result in less desirable tenants filling the storefronts of East

17th Street. I am sure that residential property values will decline

given this scenario.

Gruder states that the 17th Street Merchants and Community Assn. does

not have an alternative proposal. There is a plan in the works that will

be presented to City Council at the appropriate time. Our advisors have

suggested that we wait until the city is ready to take their plan to City

Council. In addition, there is a four-lane plan the city and the ad hoc

committee is considering that is similar to what the association is

seeking to implement.

What took 50 years to build will take just a matter of months to

destroy. I hope that the members of City Council remember their campaign

promises regarding East 17th Street.

* BRETT HEMPHILL is the owner of Hemphill’s Rugs & Carpets on 17th

Street in Costa Mesa and is a member of the 17th Street Merchants and

Community Assn. Steering Committee.