Menlo Park: Furor cools as troubled market makes upgrades Menlo Park: Furor cools as troubled market makes upgrades (June 15, 2005)

** Check-cashing operation at La Hacienda Market allowed to continue with high-tech safe, security guard, better lighting.

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

The check-cashing operation at La Hacienda Market will not be shut down, and it seems the neighborhood furor has abated as well.

After a string of armed robberies at the market in the Willows neighborhood of Menlo Park, residents clamored for La Hacienda to make safety upgrades, worried that the large amounts of cash in the check-cashing operation were drawing crime.

City officials said the market was slow to comply, so the City Council set a nuisance-abatement hearing for June 9. But by the time the hearing rolled around, things had changed.

At the meeting, Menlo Park Police Cmdr. Terri Molakides said market owner Ramiro Chavez ultimately "has been fully cooperative with (city) staff and has implemented or is in the process of implementing all of staff's recommendations."

"Good job," said Councilwoman Lee Duboc, and the council voted 3-0 to end the abatement proceedings. Council members Mickie Winkler and Kelly Fergusson recused themselves because they live within 500 feet of La Hacienda.

No one from La Hacienda spoke.

New safety measures at La Hacienda include a time-release safe that allows only a certain amount of cash to be removed at one time, construction to enclose the check-cashing area, and a security guard on duty during business hours, Cmdr. Molakides said.

The market has also removed signs from the front window that blocked visibility, and submitted plans to increase outside lighting.

Earlier, Mr. Chavez had taken other safety measures, including putting up a fence that blocked getaway access to an alley behind the market.

Only a few neighbors spoke at the meeting, and they seemed pleased with the vote, despite speaking so anxiously a month before.

With the changes at the market, "it's not a public nuisance," said Diane Mavica, who had been one of the most vocal in calling for city action after the robberies.

Ms. Mavica and her neighbors also praised another council action that night: passing a law to require many check-cashing operations to obtain a city permit.

The "teeth" of the law, as City Attorney Bill McClure phrased it in a staff report, is the permit's requirement for taking security measures. These include a time-release safe, a lighting plan and the training of employees in cash-handling procedures.

The three council members agreed to make the law an urgency ordinance; it takes effect immediately and applies to existing and future operations.

The law applies to La Hacienda and the other small markets where armed robberies have taken place: Mi Rancho and La Michoacana, both on Willow Road. But it does not apply to downtown markets such as Safeway on El Camino Real and Draeger's, which are in major commercial areas farther from homes, Mr. McClure said.

The Sharon Heights Safeway does not routinely cash checks, and Draeger's cashes few, he added.

Permits can be approved, denied and revoked by the police chief, and businesses can appeal a permit decision to the council.

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