This clothes dryer, dumped alongside and near the rear of the Kwik Way’s parking lot, is just one example of the blighted conditions cited by many respondents in the recent FatBurger online poll.
In addition, a resident of one of the adjacent apartment buildings in an email message directed earlier this week to Hoang Banh, our Neighborhood Services Coordinator, complained that she had been staring at this abandoned appliance for six months—along with a constant stream of other trash and litter. In the same message, he or she also complained at length about the noise and other disturbances generated by customers of the Serenader which is also owned and operated by the Hahn family:
Much of the noise that I hear...any night the Serenader is open is people hanging out in the [Kwik Way] parking lot...blaring their car stereos, talking loud, yelling, arguing, etc. On nights they are open late patrons have stayed in the lot until well after 2:30 AM.
These specific complaints echo those the Grand Lake Community Council has been hearing for the last couple of years and will be on the agenda of their Thursday, April 5 meeting at the Neighborhood Center beginning at 7:00PM.
See also “Kwik Way Watch: Out-of-control dumpster.”
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Comments
Charlie, you said:
Actually, both photos were taken on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 28, a full week before they were posted. As of yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, March 7, hours before the photos were posted), the clothes dryer was still there.
I don’t get why you repeatedly say that:
You had a development agreement with Paramount Development Group, which you terminated, and then you were in negotiations with Tom Peterson of Lakeshore Partners. There has been no lack of interest among developers to do a mixed-use development there.
Charles,
I’ve been reading your comments with great interest and feel obligated to point out some inconsistencies in your remarks.
For starters, today you claimed that the dryer had been removed. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by the photo that I took at 5:00 PM, it’s still there along with the two tires that the resident in the adjacent apartment building also cited in her message to the Grand Lake Community Council.
You also indicated: “We do our part in removing heavy appliances such as this refrigerator every other week.” But the message to the GLCC said it had been there for six months. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this claim, but I do know from personal experience that large pieces of bulky trash have sat in the Kwik Way lot for month after month including most recently a set of abandoned bar stools.
Regarding the overflowing dumpster, you said, “Ken probably took this picture on Sunday”. As Jim pointed out, the photo was shot on Wednesday. Actually, I first noted the mess twenty-four hours earlier, but the day of the week seems totally irrelevant since the capacity of the dumpster is obviously inadequate and it’s constantly overflowing.
You say the dumpster belongs to the Bank of America, which is what I had assumed. Unfortunately it sits in the Kwik Way parking lot and since the Hahn family is both the owner and manager of this property, the responsibility is ultimately yours. If the City of Oakland’s Blight enforcement agency rules otherwise, I would welcome a correction.
You bemoan the constant littering, vandalism and dumping and I empathize with your plight. But at the same time, I’ll remind you that, when we met with the Fatburger representatives, I said very specifically one of the reasons community members favored the mixed use development is because large parking lots in commercial districts are a magnet for crime, vandalism and yes, dumping. This is by the way, the reason residents on Walker Avenue overwhelmingly approved the new condominiums in the Wells Fargo parking lot—because of the problems the empty lot generated.
If you’re serious about wanting to halt—or at least abate—the littering and dumping problem, there are two obvious measures you could undertake. One, light the night. When you first assumed management of the Kwik Way, you did just that. Unfortunately, not a single lamp in the parking lot is now operating and it’s pitch black. It’s like an engraved invitation for drug dealers, illegal dumping and other unsavory activities.
Just as importantly, clean up the premises and keep them clean. It’s an established fact that grime encourages crime. As long as Kwik Way (or any other establishment) harbors blight, it sends a message that such behavior is acceptable.
In one of your many comments today, you asked, ”...are you suggesting that the Hahns would intentionally put litter on our own lot?” No, I wasn’t suggesting anything of the sort—but what I did say quite forthrightly in my “Fatburger in the Fire” column, dated February 16, was this:
As evidence of this conclusion, I pointed to your family’s past ownership of the Acorn Plaza Shopping Center and the Emil Villa’s on Pleasant Valley Road as examples of the same kind of neglect we’ve experienced at the Kwik Way for the past several years.
Also today, you suggested that we as community members assist you in cleaning up your property. Truthfully, I suggested just that to the Grime Busters a couple of years ago and the idea was roundly dismissed. After researching your past and present real estate portfolio, I’m chagrined that I could have ever been so naive. Although you personally paint your family as struggling immigrants (which was certainly the case when your father first reached the states), today your real estate holdings are quite substantial and you undoubtedly enjoy a net worth that most of us can only envy. As I pointed out in the “Fatburger in the Fire” column, profits from sales of assets (such as the exquisite I. Magnin Building on Broadway) apparently went into the purchase of additional properties—not into much needed maintenance and improvements.
You’ve said repeatedly that developers are not currently interested and I’ve argued just as vehemently that the problem is not a lack of interest, but rather the perception that the asking price for the Serenader and Kwik Way properties is totally unrealistic—assuming that you are, in fact, willing to sell the latter. Allegedly, the franchisee from Fatburger expressed interest in purchasing the property, but was rebuffed. Are both properties actually for sale and is the price negotiable?
I could go on replying to your earlier comments, but what is probably more productive is to point out the questions you’ve ignored—beginning with the Serenader. As you’ve got to be aware, the Cabaret License under which you operate has very specific requirements—only some of which you’ve implemented. The most serious infraction is the absence of the two uniformed, licensed security guards—including one assigned specifically to discourage loitering and prevent disturbances in the Kwik Way parking lot. You were also required to provide immediate neighbors with contact information for the Serenader’s management so complaints may be filed. To the best of my knowledge, this has never occurred. We are also continuing to receive reliable reports of drug dealing in or around the Serenader’s premises. Are you at the Serenader on a regular basis to monitor what goes on?
Finally, aside from your complaints about my attacking your family personally, I’ve yet to hear from you any substantive rebuttal of the content of the “Fatburger in the Fire” article. I put a couple of days of research into that effort and Jim Ratliff, as Editor, made sure I tied up any loose ends and didn’t jump to false conclusions. If any of the claims made therein are factually incorrect, I would be quite happy to print a retraction.
Ken