The city of Glendale has stated that it will not seek eminent domain proceedings against MAK Investment LLC and the Authentic Persian and Oriental Rugs on Colorado Boulevard.
What is not mentioned is that under Colorado law (CRS 31.25.100-116), the city of Glendale and the Glendale Urban Renewal Authority (GURA) are two separate legal entities.
Has GURA also pledged not to use eminent domain proceedings against MAK and the Persian rug store? At the May special council meeting, the City Council specifically gave GURA the power to use eminent domain against these properties. So for a reprieve to be attained, relief must also be given by the Glendale Economic Redevelopment Authority.
And it doesn’t look like it will be forthcoming.
The owners of the rug store, the Kholghy family, have asked that the blight designation be lifted from their properties. A city spokesperson responded by saying “the conditions of blight cited in the 2013 blight study have not been eliminated.”
Conditions of blight listed are:
B. faulty street layout — Items so listed are vehicular access, driveway definitions/curbcuts, parking layout substandard and traffic accident history;
C. faulty lot — vehicle access;
D. unsanitary or unsafe conditions — pedestrian safety issues, high crime incidence, lack of fire protection, vagrants/vandalism/graffiti;
E. deteriorating site/other improvements — parking surface and lack of landscaping;
F. unusual topography or inadequate public improvements — curbs and gutters, overhead utilities, water/sewer service, stormwater quality;
H. danger to life, property from fire or other — fire safety problems; and
I. unsafe-unhealthy for live-work — fire safety problems, building/facilities unsafe.
Some of the items listed are the result of the city’s negligence. On faulty street layout, vehicular access, driveway definitions/curbcuts should have been remedied before the Kohlghys’ purchase. The traffic accident history doesn’t explain whether the accidents happened on the property or in the surrounding streets.
Faulty lot could affect all businesses that have driveways opening onto Colorado Boulvard. Unsanitary or unsafe conditions list pedestrian safety concerns that affect any business that has vehicles turning into the driveway from any street. High crimes incidences does not list where these crimes took place — whether it is on the Kohlghys’ property or stemming from the strip bar in the neighborhood. Lack of fire protection doesn’t explain whether the fire department isn’t providing the protection or if the building needs a sprinkler system installed.
Unusual topography or inadequate public improvements lists curbs and gutters, overhead utilities, water/sewer service and stormwater quality, all of which the property owner has no control over whatsoever. The last two blight items list fire safety problems, again, but no details are provided.
The Glendale Economic Redevelopment Authority should furnish MAK Investment LLC and Authentic Persian and Oriental Rugs with a detailed list specifying what the property owners must do to clear the properties from the blight designation
Let’s hope the city of Glendale and GURA are sincere in their word that they will not seek to obtain these properties through eminent domain and work with the Kohlghys in clearing the property from the blight designation.
Thomes E. Wambolt is president of the Colorado Property Rights Coalition based in Arvada.
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