By Brandon Leuallen | The Business Times
For 22 years, GJ Auto Sales was a fixture in the Grand Junction community, a family-run business operated by Amber Colunga Martinez and Mike Martinez. But now, the lot at 320 S. First St. will be transformed into a state-led mobility hub, part of Colorado’s climate-focused transportation plan.
Selling the property to the state of Colorado, the City of Grand Junction and Mesa County due to impending eminent domain has left the couple without enough to financially open up again in a viable location.
The Martinezes said they first learned of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s plans not through official communication, but by reading a story in The Daily Sentinel.
“We found out about it through the Sentinel posting an article about it becoming a mobility hub,” Amber Martinez said. “We had no idea. It was a shock.”
The couple likened the ordeal to a “David versus Goliath” fight.
“They’re the top of the chain under the governor. We pay for our attorney, and those guys use the attorney general and taxpayer money,” Mike Martinez said.
A perfect storm: Lost rent, legal fees, roadwork, and a nearby homeless resource center
Major financial strain began two years before the finalization of the sale. CDOT’s roadwork on Ute and Pitkin avenues disrupted access to their business. Then, the opening of the Homeward Bound Homeless Resource Center next door further impacted their income.
The looming eminent-domain case also prevented them from renting out an on-site unit. On top of that, legal fees to fight the state’s takeover and to get fair compensation was proving costly.
Amber said the resource center, located directly east of their property, created safety concerns for customers.
“People were sleeping at our back door,” she said. “It made it really hard. People didn’t feel safe coming to us anymore.”
To defuse tensions and bring calm to those sleeping and passing by, the couple played Christian music outside.
“Our faith is really what got us through all of this,” Amber said.
Local officials never spoke to the couple about taking their land or any issues regarding the resource center, the Martinezes said.
“Not one of them reached out to us. And it’s because they knew they were taking our property, we believe, is why they didn’t want to face us,” Mike Martinez said.
The couple also noticed from previous meetings with the city’s planning department that their car lot was not part of the city’s vision for downtown.
“We were grandfathered in, and they didn’t like that,” Mike said, referring to his property’s unavailability to the city.
The Martinezes said the state’s settlement was nowhere near enough to relocate their business, given the higher property prices of today, especially for a property with the great visibility GJ Auto Sales had at 320 S. First St.
“The ideas they had for relocation were ridiculous – like a gym in Fruita,” Mike said. “We couldn’t replace that property for what they offered.”
Between lost income, legal expenses and an insufficient settlement, they said restarting elsewhere was impossible.
What Is a Mobility Hub?
Grand Junction currently has a transfer station on South Ave between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. According to the City of Grand Junction the mobility hub will replace the current transfer station.
Mobility hubs are larger and aim to integrate walking, biking, scooters, EV-charging stations and public transit into one location.
Mobility hubs are listed as one of the strategies to achieve Colorado’s transportation and climate goals laid out in its 2035 Transportation Vision. The plan aims to induce a “mode shift” away from personal vehicles.
According to the plan, “In order to achieve the Vision 2035 mode shift goal of doubling the current 9.6 percent of trips from transit, biking and walking, these modes of transportation must be made more attractive and convenient options for Coloradans through improvements in frequency, speed and reliability.”
There were other options
“They had five other lots they could choose from,” Mike said. “The resource center, the old pawn shop across the street, the two county lots where the old Burger King was, all of those were available.”
The City of Grand Junction confirmed that part of the land currently occupied by the resource center will also be used for the hub.
According to the city of Grand Junction, “The city-owned property at 261 Ute Ave – only a long, linear strip adjacent to the alley – will be used for a portion of the mobility hub, specifically for regional and interstate buses.”
The Reality of Eminent Domain
Now stripped of their land and business, the Martinezes say they hope their story can help others navigate the murky waters of eminent domain.
Only late in the process did they discover CDOT’s online handbook, which included provisions, such as protective rent that they say were never offered to them.
Mike said the state gave little information, adding, “CDOT gives you one little pamphlet that briefly tells you this and this can happen, and that’s it.”
Knowing what he knows now, he advised, “Pull up their handbooks online and hold them accountable. You have to know your rights from the start.”
CDOT’s appraisal of the property’s value was the lowest appraisal.
“They use their own appraiser, and they’re going to use the lowest appraisal, which is usually theirs,” Mike Martinez said.
The Martinezes said they struggled to find local legal representation, citing local attorneys having conflicts of interest. Their eventual attorney, based in Denver, pushed for a quick settlement and attempted to get them to take the first offer rather than help them push multiple counteroffers.