Bellflower : Grant for Car Dealer Tabled

The Bellflower City Council has tabled an application for a federal grant that would have helped a car dealership move its operation closer to the Artesia Freeway.

Already faced with the loss of one car dealership to the nearby Cerritos Auto Square, city officials had planned to apply for an Urban Development Action Grant to help the unidentified, local car dealership move to a more visible site at the corner of Lakewood and Artesia boulevards. The federal grant offers matching funds to private developers as a way of increasing city revenue and providing jobs for residents.

Last week, city officials met with the owner of the dealership to discuss moving the operation to the 5-acre lot, city spokesman Nelson E. Oliva said. But the dealership pulled out of the proposal at the last minute, he said.

Oliva declined to say whether the dealership now plans to move out of the city. He said the city will not pursue the grant for use by another private developer.

Two weeks ago, the owner of Suburban Pontiac announced that his operation would be moving to the 17-dealer Cerritos Auto Square in about eight months.

Officials are struggling to convince other auto dealers to remain in Bellflower, and not be lured away by the benefits of an auto mall. Car dealerships provide about 26% of the city’s total sales tax revenue.