Mayor wants City Attorney to halt Jack in the Box remodel

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Mayor Bob Filner Friday accused Jack in the Box of
violating terms of a permit to remodel a restaurant in North Park and asked the
City Attorney's Office for an order to force the San Diego-based company to
stop work on the project.

Filner and the city's Development Services Department contend that two
walls of the eatery at 2959 Upas St. were partially demolished, an action not
contemplated in the approved plans.

The mayor said Jack in the Box has destroyed almost all of the existing
restaurant. The company originally wanted to tear down and completely rebuild
the facility but those plans were denied by the city's Planning Commission.

“It is outrageous to me that Jack in the Box has completely misled the
North Park community about this project, promising in writing, for example,
that no exterior walls would be destroyed when, in fact, nearly all the of the
exterior walls were destroyed,” Filner said. “My administration has laid out
the facts in a memo to the City Attorney, and requested that he approve the
issuance of a Stop Work Order, which will halt any further construction at the
site.”

Further, Filner asked the City Attorney to decide whether Jack in the
Box, which closed the Upas Street location in May for about 10 weeks, has given
up its right to operate a drive-through window at the restaurant.

The restaurant existed before zoning laws in North Park were changed to
prohibit drive-throughs, so it was allowed to keep one as part of the
remodeling project.

However, the mayor said Jack in the Box is building “what is
essentially an entirely new restaurant” on the site, so it might have to abide
by the area's current zoning ordinance.

A message left for a Jack in the Box spokesman has not been returned.