Body shop owner fights to stay after relocation

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BY DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

Glenn Hillhouse has to move out of his auto body shop at 21st and P streets to make way for the massive Antelope Valley Project, which is bringing new streets, bridges and flood control to the city’s core.

But some city leaders oppose the new location he has in mind at 21st and K streets.

Customers and friends have rallied around the downtown businessman, blizzarding City Council members with letters urging them to approve his desired site. And on Monday, some of them showed up for a City Council public hearing on his proposed location.

He wants to stay near downtown, where he’s been in business since 1965. That’s where many of his customers live and work. But the site near Lincoln High School is a high-profile entryway into downtown, and some don’t think a body shop fits the city’s vision of offices or homes in that area.

The city-county Planning Department opposes the project. The Public Works Department has concerns about the site’s access route.

However, the proposal was approved by the city-county Planning Commission and Capitol Environs Commission, which oversees architectural, landscape and urban design issues around the state Capitol.

Hillhouse, meanwhile, is doing business on borrowed time.

His property at 21st and P streets was condemned and sold to the city in June 2004 for $400,000, according to Nicole Fleck-Tooze of public works. He has since continued to do business there rent-free while searching for a new location.

He has agreed to be out by July 1 because the building is scheduled to be demolished July 27. That could put Hillhouse out of auto body work for up to six months.

Federal funds could be in jeopardy if the city doesn’t stay on schedule, Fleck-Tooze said.

But city officials have previously been picky about proposed businesses in that area. A gas station and McDonald’s planned for the northeast corner of the intersection were vetoed by Mayor Coleen Seng.

Seng said Monday she didn’t know what to think of Hillhouse’s proposal and will wait to see what the council decides.

Hillhouse’s realtor said she’s shown him more than 35 other properties, and this was the only one that will meet his needs.

His attorney, Mark Hunzeker, said the Antelope Valley redevelopment plan and Downtown Master Plan don’t contain any areas that would clearly accommodate a body shop. He said downtown needs auto businesses, and if the city wants people to support projects like Antelope Valley, it needs to accommodate those it displaces.

The council will take action on the proposal in coming weeks.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.