GARDEN GROVE : Car Dealers Given Payment Plan on Bill

The City Council, acting as the Community Development Agency, has approved a request to let the Auto Dealers Assn. pay a $25,000 landscaping bill in 12 monthly payments instead of one lump sum payment.

The auto dealers received the bill in August for maintaining the landscaping on the slope of the Garden Grove Freeway next to the auto center on Trask Avenue, west of Brookhurst Street.

But Gary L. Alwood, vice president of the Garden Grove Auto Center, said in a letter urging city officials to extend the payment over a period of time that “a downturn in the car business made payment difficult.”

Officials recently agreed to the request and will charge a monthly interest rate of 6%.

In cooperation with the auto dealers, city officials in November, 1990, agreed to remove tall oleander bushes and other plants that blocked visibility of the auto center from the freeway and planted low-lying vegetation at a cost of about $225,000.

The annual maintenance cost for the landscaped area is $25,219 a year. The Community Development Agency paid that cost for the first 42 months. The auto dealers had agreed to continue the maintenance payments after that period.

The auto dealers also asked the agency to consider funding a replacement of the blue face on the Auto Center sign at the center. They said the blue panel has been faded by the sun and detracts from the appearance of the sign.

Officials asked staff employees to look into the request. The sign replacement is estimated to cost $9,000.