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Edward
Turner tel: (323) 735-0473
2272 W. 29th
Street
L.A, CA. 90018
email: ettheoriginal@aol.com
January 19, 2009
To: L.A Zoning Commission
From: Jefferson Park Neighbors (Region 6)
Re: Expansion of Mr. and Mrs.Yoon’s Family Business
Dear Commission,
This letter is being written as a result of Jefferson
Park Neighbors (Region 6) being notified that Mr. Steve Yoon, our
community’s leading small business development investor, has a request
for expansion of Century Plaza’s grocery store, 2115 W. Jefferson
Blvd., Los Angeles 90018. When we received notice of this business
expansion there were fellow Jefferson Park residents who immediately
sent out communications via email challenging the Yoon family’s business
expansion request.
Jefferson Park Neighbors has been in existence since
1986. We presently have a core membership of 178 homes within an area of
15 square blocks. Since our inception there have been over two thousand
participants in our community forums and a much greater number of
Angelenos attending our local annual festivals. This is an all-inclusive
community organization focused on proactive strategies that secure a
widely respected living standard. Our neighborhood, with its diverse
cultural influences, holds a distinction of being an oasis within inner
city Los Angeles.
Having notice that there were other residents
uncomfortable with the sale of alcoholic beverages being expanded we
decided to call Mr. and Mrs. Yoon in order to meet with them to get the
exact details of their plans to expand business. To our knowledge, our
comrades opposing the Yoon family business expansion had not chosen to
set up a communication line with the owners. Typical to his history over
the past 15 years Mr. Yoon was very open to holding a meeting, so he
agreed to meet with us. One day after our initial phone call Mr. Yoon
came to my home on January 10, 2009 to first explain how the emails were
somewhat propagandistic or simply the result of misinformation through
untrue rumors spreading. Mr. Yoon explained that presently there are two
separate spaces forming an L-shape: the present original space rebuilt
after the 1992 L.A riots, and a new store space on the northern side of
the plaza. What Mr. Yoon actually intends to do is close off the present
space to utilize it exclusively as a storage space. The new space is
double the square footage of the older original space. Going further,
Mr. Yoon explained he is working with residents of Jefferson Park in
order to best serve nonalcoholic produce and food products from Mexico,
Central America, and Caribbean nations. The clearly stated vision
reveals the Yoon family’s commitment to intercultural exchange for the
purpose of actualizing the American dream, “out of many, one people.”
Concerning the Yoon family’s history of community
involvement expressly focused on helping us live healthily in Jefferson
Park:
·
They continue to support us by attending and participating
in many civic meetings such as with the Jefferson Park Library,
Jefferson Park Neighbors Association, and United Neighborhoods
Neighborhood Council.
·
They continue to meet with other business owners and
police to identify and work towards resolving problems concerning
community safety and crime.
·
They can always be depended upon to provide hundreds of
nonalcoholic beverages and a wide variety of catered ethnic foods during
our well attended neighborhood-wide celebrations.
·
The Yoon family states that the primary reason they are
requesting to increase their floor space is to better provide more
selection of non-alcohol ethnic produce consistent with consumer demands
in the area.
·
The Yoon family, via Korean American Grocers Association,
has donated approximately ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to local
students identified as being on a path for college and a purposeful
career. Yes, through hard work and genuine caring, Mr. and Mrs. Yoon
have earned their respect with Jefferson Park Neighbors---the old
fashioned way.
After interviewing Mr. Yoon and inspecting all spaces
within the newly named Century Plaza (formerly Century Liquor) Jefferson
Park Neighbors finds the reasoning presented to challenge this business
reformation is arbitrary and unfair. It is particularly laudable that,
over the years, the Yoon family nurtured caring community relationships
in order to sustain true brotherhood within a very diverse multicultural
setting. This has resulted into Century Plaza having a proven track
record of being a safe zone where Yoon family and unarmed Jefferson Park
residents are the only security personnel. The LAPD crime reports will
bear out that violent crimes are much higher in areas away from the
Yoon’s business establishment. Through love and a propensity to
communicate the Yoon family has conquered over violence and hatred; an
outcome we proudly share. The requirement to have a security guard was
instituted after the 1992 L.A Riots. Perhaps L. A City needs to consider
studying this particular family business in order to develop a model
that other small businesses can duplicate. Frankly, if we could get half
the small businesses in Jefferson Park to donate one-tenth of what the
Yoon family so graciously shares annually we would rival the wealthiest
communities across Los Angeles.
In conclusion, based upon verifiable factual information
already mentioned above; on the matter of the Yoon family request to
expand their business, Jefferson Park Neighbors of Los Angeles City
Council District 10 (Region 6) believes it is in the best interest of
the cultural relations of the area that this reformation of business
space is in no way detrimental to the public. This position is offered
as the result of open, honest communication. We defer to the Zoning
Commission and trust in their determination to be fair and reasonable.
Respectfully,
Edward Turner, Small Business Liaison
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