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DOWNTOWN FIXTURES NOT IN NEED OF FIXING ... OR REPLACING
By Bill McEwen
Fresno Bee CA
09/09/07
Hooray for Cosmopolitan Tavern owner, bartender and sidewalk sweeper
Gary Lanfranco.
Hooray for Jeanette Jurkovich, Doug Vagim and other pesky
preservationists at Heritage Fresno.
Maybe someday, the politicians charged with revitalizing downtown will
listen to the good citizens who are kicking government tail in court.
Lanfranco is the third-generation owner of "Cosmo," a century-old
landmark that the Redevelopment Agency declared blighted and subject
to eminent domain in its push to spruce up Chinatown.
The Cosmo is to Chinatown what Susan Sarandon is to the silver screen.
Yes, it's been around the block, but it's still beautiful -- and RDA
officials could've seen that for themselves if they'd done more than
a drive-by inspection.
Or weren't dangling like marionettes from the fingers of master
developers.
Instead of rolling over, Lanfranco rolled up his sleeves and called
Pacific Legal Foundation, a Sacramento-based group that believes
eminent domain is worse than typhoid fever.
Lanfranco won the battle and is getting $15,000 from the city for
his legal fees.
Now he won't have to start over elsewhere, and son Joe, the chef,
will keep turning out the Cosmo's top-selling tri-tip sandwiches.
"I don't have a grudge against the city," Lanfranco says.
"This was about preserving what's been ours for a long time and making
sure the [Cosmo] name doesn't move."
Lanfranco's victory also is about something else: the city's need to
incorporate existing businesses into its downtown vision, instead of
trampling and discouraging them.
Downtown Fresno should be a blend of old and new, classic and funky,
master developer and mom-and-pop.
And while we await the big-bang projects years and decades from
completion, City Hall should focus on making downtown clean and green,
putting in walking and cycling paths, and providing incentives to
build lofts and apartments above the Fulton Mall.
The City Council -- which is the RDA -- also might want to sit down
with Heritage Fresno and figure out where to put five old homes moved
from the original Armenian Town.
These treasures have been treated like trash by the bureaucrats, and
Heritage Fresno has beaten RDA in court more than once to save them.
I bet the crew of young planners recently hired by the city could find
a prominent spot for the houses that would improve downtown's ambience.
The agency, instead, is appealing the court ruling because it wants
to hide them away in an industrial area.
Can anybody be that short-sighted?
RDA can, and the next time it gets whipped in court the judge ought
to order the agency to stamp "Stupid -- It's What We Do!" on its
letterhead.
Serving the public is what Lanfranco does.
The Cosmo has good food, Fat Tire on tap and and burgundy upholstered
booths. It's old, new, classic and funky, and a place where customers
are treated like friends.
Downtown has many businesses like that. Mecca Billiards, Baskin's
Auto Supply and Arrow Electric Motor Service are among them.
The city should throw them all a parade, thank them for sticking things
out and tell the big-shot developers getting big city subsidies to
build around them.
By Bill McEwen
Fresno Bee CA
09/09/07
Hooray for Cosmopolitan Tavern owner, bartender and sidewalk sweeper
Gary Lanfranco.
Hooray for Jeanette Jurkovich, Doug Vagim and other pesky
preservationists at Heritage Fresno.
Maybe someday, the politicians charged with revitalizing downtown will
listen to the good citizens who are kicking government tail in court.
Lanfranco is the third-generation owner of "Cosmo," a century-old
landmark that the Redevelopment Agency declared blighted and subject
to eminent domain in its push to spruce up Chinatown.
The Cosmo is to Chinatown what Susan Sarandon is to the silver screen.
Yes, it's been around the block, but it's still beautiful -- and RDA
officials could've seen that for themselves if they'd done more than
a drive-by inspection.
Or weren't dangling like marionettes from the fingers of master
developers.
Instead of rolling over, Lanfranco rolled up his sleeves and called
Pacific Legal Foundation, a Sacramento-based group that believes
eminent domain is worse than typhoid fever.
Lanfranco won the battle and is getting $15,000 from the city for
his legal fees.
Now he won't have to start over elsewhere, and son Joe, the chef,
will keep turning out the Cosmo's top-selling tri-tip sandwiches.
"I don't have a grudge against the city," Lanfranco says.
"This was about preserving what's been ours for a long time and making
sure the [Cosmo] name doesn't move."
Lanfranco's victory also is about something else: the city's need to
incorporate existing businesses into its downtown vision, instead of
trampling and discouraging them.
Downtown Fresno should be a blend of old and new, classic and funky,
master developer and mom-and-pop.
And while we await the big-bang projects years and decades from
completion, City Hall should focus on making downtown clean and green,
putting in walking and cycling paths, and providing incentives to
build lofts and apartments above the Fulton Mall.
The City Council -- which is the RDA -- also might want to sit down
with Heritage Fresno and figure out where to put five old homes moved
from the original Armenian Town.
These treasures have been treated like trash by the bureaucrats, and
Heritage Fresno has beaten RDA in court more than once to save them.
I bet the crew of young planners recently hired by the city could find
a prominent spot for the houses that would improve downtown's ambience.
The agency, instead, is appealing the court ruling because it wants
to hide them away in an industrial area.
Can anybody be that short-sighted?
RDA can, and the next time it gets whipped in court the judge ought
to order the agency to stamp "Stupid -- It's What We Do!" on its
letterhead.
Serving the public is what Lanfranco does.
The Cosmo has good food, Fat Tire on tap and and burgundy upholstered
booths. It's old, new, classic and funky, and a place where customers
are treated like friends.
Downtown has many businesses like that. Mecca Billiards, Baskin's
Auto Supply and Arrow Electric Motor Service are among them.
The city should throw them all a parade, thank them for sticking things
out and tell the big-shot developers getting big city subsidies to
build around them.