Not Quite Ready for Ribs

by Dennis Evanosky

Don't let the thought of enjoying those Everett & Jones ribs at High Street and MacArthur Boulevard whet your appetite just yet. Restaurant owner Dorothy King must clear two obstacles before she can transform the abandoned site that Laurel Liquors, Roberts' Tires, and a PG&E workyard once occupied.

The first impediment deals with the all-too-familiar problems with PG&E and its recent bankruptcy. The second involves the findings of the Environmental Impact Report that the state requires Everett & Jones to file.

The PG&E lot formed the last parcel that King had to acquire before she could implement her plans. After winning a bidding war with another prospective buyer (with some help from Councilmember Dick Spees), she fell victim to the energy provider's bankruptcy.

According to Realtor Gary Robinson, who represents King in the transaction, PG&E required her to sign a document that held the electric company harmless for any delay that its bankruptcy filing might cause. "We're playing a waiting game with the utility," Robinson said. "We now expect the escrow to close the first week of June."

Robinson pointed out that had PG&E not filed for bankruptcy, the sale would likely have been finalized the first week of May.

The Environmental Impact Report and its obstacles are tied to the construction of Interstate 580. The interstate broke several neighborhood streets, including Redding, into two pieces. Instead of running as one, Redding now dead-ends on the east side of the freeway near Maybelle Street. Then it continues on the west side at High Street. In between, right at the freeway, stood a gas station.

MacArthur Boulevard now runs straight between High Street and the freeway overpass to the south. This is something relatively new. As you face the overpass, the road once ran more to the left, about where the sidewalk is today. Exactly where MacArthur runs today stood a second gas station, and its underground tanks may be under the Boulevard.

Tanks from these stations seeped gas onto the Robert's Tires and PG&E property and contaminated the soil. Now Dorothy King may be responsible for cleaning up the soil.

"The real mystery is the location of these tanks," said King. "We've looked at old aerial photos and found that one gas station might have been right where the freeway runs today, and that a second might be at the mini-mall across High Street from our new property."

Members of the Roberts family pointed out where they thought the gas tanks were located on their old property. A magnetic scan and excavations were done to no avail. If the tanks are located under MacArthur Boulevard, then King must still take steps to clean the soil on her new property. This may involve replacing the soil and sealing it with asphalt or simply leaving the contaminated soil and sealing it. Either way the minimum cost is $10,000.

Both the contaminated soil and the PG&E bankruptcy stand in the way of King's moving forward with her planned opening in September. "These are issues beyond my control," she said. "All we can do now is wait and ask our friends in the Laurel to be patient."

As a longtime Everett & Jones aficionado, I know it will be worth the wait.