WESTMINSTER : Redevelopment to Close 2 Businesses

For the second time in three weeks, the city’s Redevelopment Agency has moved to condemn the last remaining businesses on the proposed site of a major shopping center.

The agency unanimously decided Tuesday to close the Me-Samoan Bakery and C & C Auto Paint Co. to facilitate the development of a 40-acre parcel on Westminster Boulevard that has become the cornerstone of the city’s redevelopment project.

Redevelopment Director Don Anderson said the decision marks the city’s second use of eminent domain for redevelopment since 1983, when the agency was opened. In April, the city ejected Super Sounds Car Stereo at 6699 Westminster Blvd. from the shopping center site.

Betty Fuailetolo, owner of the Me-Samoan Bakery at 7572 Westminster Blvd., said Wednesday that closing her shop probably would not be a hardship.

“It’s a problem, but it’s not a big problem,” she said. “I’ve got another bakery in Carson. . . . I did expect it, but there’s nothing I can do about it either.”

Anderson said the financially strapped city expects the center to generate at least $1 million a year in sales taxes and also $500,000 a year for the Redevelopment Agency. The new center will “also serve as a catalyst to encourage redevelopment along Golden West Street and Westminster Boulevard,” he said.

Some of the buildings and stores in the development, which includes a Home Depot, should be open by fall. Anderson said the center is expected to be in full operation by early 1992.