No Loitering, Fifteen Minute Parking: Crystal Cove car show threatened by The Irvine Co.
Three years ago, a couple of guys who had been attending one of Orange County's longest running early morning hot rod gatherings decided they needed a change. Mark Greeley and Bob Cheatley loved meeting with their friends and fellow "Donut Derelicts" at the corner of Magnolia and Adams in Huntington Beach every Saturday, but the 4 am wakeup time was getting to be a pain. Also, it was a bit of a drive. So they decided to meet a little later in the morning at the newly opened Crystal Cove Promenade right down PCH from them. Little did Mark and Bob know that this would eventually grow to be one of the most talked about exotic and classic car gatherings on the planet. Follow the jump for the rest of the story and links to previous galleries.
As more of their friends found out that Mark and Bob were now at CC, they followed them over there. And as people started to notice the gathering, they'd stop in too, to see the cool cars. Every Saturday morning since they started meeting, a who's who of Southern California automakers and a roll call of every enthusiasts' dream garage has passed in and out of that parking lot. The Starbuck's had to eventually hire an additional 6 workers to handle the customers. On a non-show day, two is sufficient. The problem is that the show got too big. As word spread, the crowds grew from a couple hundred people to the point where the entire parking lot fills up by 7:30 each week. So who in their right mind would complain about having too many customers and too much traffic in its shopping center? The Irvine Company, that's who.
One of the problems with the location is that it butts up to a residential area. A residential area with $5 million condos. Those people tend to get a little annoyed by a Lamborghini wakeup call at 6 am. And so the owner of the property, the Irvine Company, has had to deal with a steady stream of complaints. Changes have been made over the years to help manage the traffic and noise, additional security was hired too, and finally, tickets were issued to slow people down and stop any reckless driving that might occur as enthusiasts gather and get overenthusiastic at times. Not that that was a major issue at this show. The CC crowd tends to be a little older and more mature. But the Irvine Company has decided that the show has reached a point where it would need a permit, more official organization, and most importantly, a new home.
In what appears to be a preemptive move, word is already spreading that it doesn't want these cars at any of its other, larger facilities either, and that has really upset many of the regular attendees. They are not only upset about losing their gathering place, but are also wondering how the company can enforce such a ban on nice cars, and the paying customers who drive them. Some select comments from regular attendees off of Ferrarichat.com:
"So, If I show up at 7 am on Saturday with the F40 to get some Starbucks and I happen to see a friend of mine and we sit down and talk, am I going to be arrested?!?!?"
"Make sure we all show our disapproval with our pocket books.
DON'T SHOP CRYSTAL COVE!!!"
"Irvine CO SUCKS!"
"We all knew that this day was coming. Like others have said, they can not keep us out... we park our cars and have coffee or eat at Pacific Way Cafe; what are they going to tell us? The difference will be that the "show area" will no longer be there. Is that such a bad thing?"
...and the best yet...
"If Starbucks and Pacific Wayy are open then I guess I'll stop in on Saturday mornings anyway to have coffee and breakfast with friends. If they are open then we must be welcome no matter what we drive. They can't make us go away and be open."
"I can just see the newly posted signs: No Ferraris, No Lamborghinis, No Porsches, No Corvettes, No Vipers, No old cars, No new cars, No for sale cars, No fast cars, No expensive cars, No exotic cars, No trucks with trailers, No Motorcycles, No skateboards, No rollerblades. No loitering, No looking at cars, 15 minute parking only."
Good points there. It does seem a little counterintuitive for a landlord to tell a couple thousand fairly wealthy people it doesn't want their business. It's not like it's a bunch of hooligans doing donuts in the parking lot. So although this seems very short-sighted on the part of the Irvine Company, they are resolute, even turning down regular showgoer Barry Meguiar's plea to move it to a larger, non-residential mall down the road a bit. The lost business will probably be huge and will surely have a ripple effect throughout the community and the other properties the Irvine Company owns.
So what's next for the few hundred regulars who still need to have their weekly "church service?" Well, the most likely scenario has them breaking up into smaller shows at restaurants owned by individuals who are sympathetic enthusiasts, who also like the idea of having regular weekly customers. Apparently that's not something the Irvine Company needs right now.
Three years after Mark and Bob started this thing, only Mark remains to see the show's demise. Bob Cheatley passed away a few months ago and that made Mark appreciate the camaraderie the show represents more than ever. "The Irvine Co. is the biggest landlord in town and for the Irvine Co. ... to tell a group of guys they don't have the right to come here and gather, that's a blow to the community," Greeley said. Wherever the show ends up, whether it be all together or in smaller, marque-specific shows scattered around OC, we'll be sure to keep you posted.
We've brought you photos from this event a couple of times, including just last week, and it has been a truly must-attend event for anybody thinking of visiting SoCal. We've heard it time and time again how enthusiasts have made sure they arrange their vacations or business trips to make sure it includes a Saturday morning so they could attend the show. It is a very sad day, but thankfully we've been on hand to capture some of the good times. Check out some of the photos from another previous show.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
chuck goolsbee 2:57PM (10/03/2006)
Were I the proprietor of a coffee and/or donut shop with a large parking lot in So Cal, I'd be happy to welcome these folks! Somebody is obviously afflicted with a cranio-rectal inversion. =
--chuck
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DPC car videos 3:10PM (10/03/2006)
I have to start making more money, That blue McLaren is just amazing even today.
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Carster 3:15PM (10/03/2006)
Will you please keep us up to date on what happens here. Do you think it will change anything next week?
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Big Al 3:22PM (10/03/2006)
Having been born and raised in South OC, I can attest to the fact that the Irvine Company could give a rat's ass about their tenants. I rented several overpriced apartments from them over the years, so I know of where I speak. Do they care that some of their tenants propser becuase of this gathering? No. They get their rent either way. To them it's a nuisance and a liability.
You would think that a company with so many commercial properties would welcome the opportunity to cater to a boatload of well-heeled individuals, especially since most of them live in the community where Irvine Company does business. I don't get it.
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rwdmtparkingonly 3:22PM (10/03/2006)
I think this is the company that created the town of Irvine, it's kind of creepy. The site said that Crystal homes start at $3mil. I guess even rich people shop at the Gap:
http://www.shoptheirvinecompany.com/Neigh_Centers.asp?id=40
If some people are planning on still meeting at the Starbucks at 7am maybe they can find a guy with a glass-pack Trans Am to hang out with.
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DRC 3:23PM (10/03/2006)
I better make a trip to Cali while they're still doing this. Its a car lover's dream and it should be a dream to the Irvine Co. What a bunch of morons, think of how much money they could make off this event...
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330R 3:34PM (10/03/2006)
Businesses and lawmakers in California have truly lost the plot.
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Taylor 3:50PM (10/03/2006)
I live in one of the houses above and the homes now pretty much start at $5 million. Anyway, the Irvine co has so much money that they DON'T care how well this car show does. They are not profiting off of it at all. All it does is fill their shoppoing center with cars, garbage, and loud noises. Don't get me wrong, I actually like the car show. The problem is Donald Bren is worth close to $5 billion and he doesn't give a shit about another 100k he might make off of this event. The problem is that he currently has $5-10 million lots and homes he is trying to sell. What could happen is the neighbors could become so frustrated with the event that they don't purchase his houses and lots. You have to remember the majority of the people who go to that even don't live in Crystal Cove or Laguna Beach in general. I actually think it is a smart move on the Irvine co's part before they get sued.
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Frank Filipponio 3:52PM (10/03/2006)
The show might be a little more colorful the next two weeks as some people will inevitably feel the need to let the management at CC know what they think of the decision. There will certainly also be those who will just never go again, and will probably never patronize any Irvine Company properties anymore. I also know several guys who have said they will continue to go just to see what the management company is prepared to do to enforce the no show policy. I'll probably be there every week for the next few just to see what happens.
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Tom 4:05PM (10/03/2006)
I dont know about the people looking at these homes but if I had the money the fact that an exotic car meet takes place every week across the street would be a HUGE selling point. Whats are the payments like on a 5 million dollar mortgage?
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Carzzi 4:21PM (10/03/2006)
Sadly, this scenario is something we at Round Rock/ Austin are all too familiar with.
Until mid-2000, the local classic/muscle/exotic hangout used to be at a stripmall in Round rock.
We got kicked out of there in late 2000 and moved to a Harley dealrship lot in Austin only to be kicked out again to reappear wayyy South at Oak Hill.
Then we moved to Round Rock/ Cedar Park again, but far away, a HomeDepot lot.
Now for the last two months or so we've moved to yet another Round Rock location!
Most of the blame lies with liability concerns, should someone be injured, etc.
Plus there were always a few hoons who would muck it up for everyone with their hoonery.
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Harley Vato 4:23PM (10/03/2006)
As it was to cruise Van Nuys Blvd. on a Wednesday night, another SoCal icon bites the dust - Too bad.
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compuntoes 5:05PM (10/03/2006)
I think that the comments in Ferrarichat has too much reason.
But may be best wait a week more, and then see what happen.
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fizzandpop 4:39PM (10/03/2006)
#10: A hair over $25K per month (interest only). Hey but that's $300K per year you can deduct from your taxes.
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Adam. 7:09PM (10/03/2006)
Frank... I'll definitely show up these next few weeks as well. The Crystal Cove meet is a dream come true (or perhaps it's so damn early that I'm actually still dreaming).
Here's some pics from a January meet at CC:
http://adamroyer.com/crystalcove/
See you there!
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Taylor 6:56PM (10/03/2006)
#13 you are wrong. You can only write off a mortgage up to $1 million. Anything above that is NOT tax deductible. The majority of people in Crystal Cove are moving up from a previous home. An example on a purchase on a $5 million home is this:
$1 million mortgage (max you can write off and pretty much max banks will give you)
$4 million from previous home.
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Jay 8:27PM (10/03/2006)
Some additional photography of the event at http://crystalcovecarshow.blogspot.com
Gonna miss this when it's gone... :(
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Dave 11:00PM (10/03/2006)
For more of the early days at Crystal Cove look back at my Cruise Night albums from 2-3 years ago, there are a lot of pics from Crystal Cove!
http://www.socalcarculture.com
I wonder how many will move to the weekly Saturday cruise at Monarch Bay Plaza, this one grew out of the Irvine Co.'s previous rousting of Crystal Cove participants a couple years ago.
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ting 1:04AM (10/04/2006)
Come on people, this is a serious crime! Law enforcement resources should absolutely be used to patrol parking lots. These car guys are obviously criminals.
Nevermind going after wackos killing girls in our schools. And forget about Islamofascists, Enzo owners must be stopped first!!!
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Big Daddy 1:55AM (10/04/2006)
Somebody isn't shooting straight here. I think there's something hidden in the message from Irvine Company (other than the obvious "F U!" to the attendees) and the city government. I'm positive it has something to do with somebody on the hill complaining. (I'm sure it won't be long before PCH traffic is blocked between the hours of 9PM and 9AM if they have it their way--except for their use of course.) I've spent nearly every Saturday at that show since mid-last year and there's nothing "out of control" at the show. It's cleared out by 9 and most of the businesses there open well after that. There's no backed up traffic into PCH, no lines to get into the center, no jammed traffic in the center, no problem with parking (even after the pricks at Trader Joes blocked "their" portion of th parking lot).
I lived in Laguna Beach when the side of the beautiful hill started to get developed by the Irvine Company years ago. It was the best piece of coastline left south of Malibu and it's been taken for overpriced tract homes, Starbucks and Gap--and now apparently not for anybody else's use. I now live in Irvine and mountain bike what's left of that coastal section every day. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't see more development coming closer to the "protected" land and animals (though I see less of the animals these days). I'd certainly consider myself "pro-environment" but I'm not for unreasonable development. What I can't stand is a system of government that works in collusion with big companies to serve, not the interests of all citizens, but those willing to pay the most to get representation. It's a shame and should be a learning lesson for us all. Let them take and inch and you better be ready to bend over and tell them who's daddy.
I'm not sure where the owners of these fine cars and motorcycles live, but I can promise you the majority are from the local area and I know for a fact that many are from Laguna Beach (#8) including some of the greatest contributors to the car culture of southern California. #8, it might be $5M for one of those tract homes on the hill (thanks for the correction and I'm sure you'll let us know that you fly first class, have a Platinum Amex, your kid attends private school and the rest of us eat piss for dinner--such attitude) but that $5M home (which is probably plummeting quickly towards $3M) should have no more representation in government (and let's be honest, the Irvine Co seems to be the real government on the Irvine Ranch) than someone coughing up an honest week's worth of wages in rent.
Sure, it's private property. Sure, it was nice of them to host for the last 3 years. It sure isn't nice of them to kick us out now that the land behind the shopping center is more than the dust bowl it was for the last 6 years. It's just too damn bad the Irvine Co is the local monopoly. Organizing any kind of boycott against them would result in your shriveling to nothingness from starvation.
I wonder if the state of California would be interested in letting us organize at the Los Trancos parking lot for a nominal fee of some sort.
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