Arcadia Council Resumes Commercial Zoning Update; Wuo Addresses Gemcoin Controversy

– Photo by Terry Miller

By Joe Taglieri

The Arcadia City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to proceed with a zoning code update that was recently shelved pending the outcome of a lawsuit.

Members directed planning staff to resume work that includes “changes and updates to the zoning throughout Arcadia’s commercial corridors, comprehensive parking review and updates, changes to Downtown Arcadia zoning requirements, review and potential modifications to the industrially-zoned area north of Downtown Arcadia, mixed-use zoning modifications as necessary, building height and massing standards for commercial zones, and many other elements,” according to a report by Development Services Director Jason Kruckeberg.

The zoning update will “also include other elements of the existing contract with MIG, Inc., such as re-formatting the Code and making it more user friendly, modernization of land uses and permitted uses throughout the City, simplification of administrative processes and public hearing processes for various items, modernization of the Subdivision Code, and other ‘clean up’ items,” Kruckeberg explained.

The zoning revamp began over a year ago with a budget of $160,000 – more than $100,000 of which has already been spent, according Mayor Gary Kovacic – for a contract with Pasadena-based MIG to perform the bulk of work the code overhaul entails.

But in May a slim council majority – John Wuo, Sho Tay, and Mayor Pro Tem Roger Chandler – decided to put the update on hold after a group called Save the Arcadia Highlands filed a lawsuit against the city aimed at blocking construction projects in the neighborhood. The majority reasoned that changes to regulations could jeopardize the city’s court case or open it up to future legal action.

This prompted vehement criticism from residents including former Council Member Mickey Siegel, who earlier this month threatened to mobilize a recall campaign against Wuo, Tay, and Chandler.

Throughout the last year the city has been embroiled in a very vocal and at times hotly emotional struggle between residents who favor what they claim is more “harmonious and compatible” development that limits the height and square footage of new properties versus property owners – many of whom are real estate investors as well as elderly homeowners seeking a retirement nest egg and inheritance legacy – who prefer a more laissez-faire approach aimed at maximizing home size to command a concurrently sizable sale price.

Still on hold until the lawsuit concludes is a revamp of zoning regulations for residential real estate as well as the establishment of a committee of residents to advise on the zoning update and development policy.

“It’s been said before that Arcadia, instead of being a community of homes may be shifting into a community of mansions,” Highlands resident Lee Kuo told council members. “I’m concerned that we may be losing the community part altogether as the values of our city seem to be shifting with a laser-like focus toward maximizing investments and tax revenues.”

The council also decided in May to exclude the Highlands from a forthcoming historical preservation survey while the lawsuit remains ongoing.

Robert Tong, also a Highlands resident, noted the increased chance of incurring a legal challenge when the council chooses to overrule a homeowner association’s decision, as was the case with the two construction projects that inspired the lawsuit.

“The Highlands Homeowners Association is not responsible for the lawsuit,” Tong said. “Therefore the city council has no reason to retaliate and punish the Highlands.”

Gemcoin Controversy

Adding to the charged atmosphere in the council chamber over real estate development, in a July 1 article Arcadia Weekly linked former mayor and current councilmember John Wuo to a business headquartered in Arcadia that is using the councilman and his status as an elected official extensively in its marketing material for a financial investment product called Gemcoin, described as a “cryptocurrency” similar to Bitcoin.

Tim Burch and David Arvizu are Highlands residents who consistently attend council meetings and voice their displeasure with the panel’s recent actions. Both berated Wuo for his endorsement of Gemcoin, which they likened to a Ponzi scheme, and his business relationships with executives of the digital currency’s parent organizations – USFIA Inc., Alliance Financial Group and the U.S. China Consultation Association.

“City council people, mayors, should not be endorsing companies – especially ones that have been identified [as] or suspected of being pyramid schemes,” said Arvizu, head of Save the Arcadia Highlands. “This is an ethics violation, mixing politics with a pyramid scheme.”

Arvizu requested council members put the issue of Wuo’s Gemcoin connection on their next meeting agenda to “discuss this in public … and admonish his inappropriate behavior.”

Wuo did not respond to Arvizu’s comments about Gemcoin at the July 7 council meeting, but he did on Tuesday.

“Please be responsible with your comments and [don’t make] unfounded allegations,” Wuo told Arvizu.

“The first time I was mayor I attended over 700 events in … Arcadia or the San Gabriel Valley,” Wuo said. “I’ve made a lot of ceremonial speeches and always wish them success in their business. I’m not going to go up there and say I wish your business fails.”

Wuo then reiterated comments he made in an interview with Arcadia Weekly: “I don’t know anything about Gemcoin, I don’t have any financial interest.”

He also rebuffed the allegation Arvizu made July 7 that Wuo may be stashing Gemcoin compensation into an overseas bank account.

“I challenge you to show me if I have an offshore account or have an account in a foreign country,” Wuo said after denying he has such assets.

Arvizu augmented his comments with a video monitor positioned so that council members and cameras that broadcast meetings could view videos posted online showing Wuo speaking at Gemcoin marketing events.

“I was invited to present awards … and the other one was a news conference [Gemcoin founder Steve Chen] invited me to say a few words,” Wuo explained. “Those are ceremonial speeches. It’s just a very regular, ceremonial, congratulatory speech.”

Wuo repeated several times that he has no financial stake in Gemcoin or affiliated companies, adding: “Yes, they made me the honorary chairman, but many companies, many associations have made me the honorary chairman. … Your accusation about this being a Ponzi – we don’t know that, and you don’t know that. It’s not up to me to make that determination, it’s up to the state to look into it and see if they are doing Ponzi.”

Wuo concluded his remarks by imploring critics to “keep focus on the issues we have at hand, which is to continue doing the city’s business rather than doing the personal attacks on me.”

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