The Marovic Drama Resurfaces
Here’s a fun item on Tuesday’s Closed Session calender.
And some backstory for the uninitiated:
Three and a half years ago, Mario Marovic, who owns the building on the northeast corner of Commonwealth and Harbor, agreed to a deal with the City to remove the City’s (formerly Florentine’s) notorious “bump out” encroachment that was stuck onto the side of his structure, on the public sidewalk – a space he didn’t own and was making improvements to at the time.
The idea, I suppose, was to get Marovic to rid the public sidewalk of the illegal room addition without the City having to pay for it and answer embarrassing questions; and Marovic would get to open his fake Irish pub, a facility whose CUP drawings included the bump out. Happiness all around, right? Only a couple decades late.
Wrong.
It turns out that Marovic never had any intention of demolishing the bump out. The deal required demolition to start March 2023, three years ago. Of course Marovic has done absolutely nothing except submit a claim for damages to the City provoking a lawsuit that has dragged on for over a year.
Will this saga finally be over on Tuesday? Don’t bet on it. The City is always diffident in these matters, going so far as “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra mugging with the scofflaw and giving him some sort of certificate of appreciation; but Marovic isn’t the diffident sort. He may be tired of paying legal bills, but there’s almost nothing stopping him from resetting the clock and beginning a whole new delay cycle.
“but there’s almost nothing stopping him from resetting the clock and beginning a whole new delay cycle.”
That’s my prediction. Another deal, another schedule, another reneging.
Fullerton being Fullerton.
They could impose requirements and timelines so it isn’t so open ended.
They already tried that. Marovic just ignored the deadlines and sued the City.
Say what you want. His businesses are the lifeblood of downtown. I sat late him keep it!
That’s what’s happening. He’ll never stick to his agreement.
Has ben paying his rent on the pop out? I wonder.
Good question. It was part of the agreement he reneged on.
His businesses are HIS lifeblood.
His businesses are serving bad food and excessive alcohol to undiscerning patrons who vomit all over DTF sidewalks!
Carrying on in the same noble tradition as the Florentine Crime Family.
“I did nothing wrong and I’d do it again!”
-F. Paul Dudley
That idiot F. Paul Dudley should be dragged from his home on Tuesday night to answer for his crimes against the good residents of Fullerton when he gave that sidewalk to Joe Florentine. No repercussions, no penalties or fines, just business as usual, and then that Dickface Dudley retired to avoid any further blowback because he knew this giveaway was not in the best interests of the city, but in the best interests of one man, Joe Florentine. And here we are 20+ years later and zero resolution on any of it, and still only 1/2 of a 70+ foot long sidewalk for the residents to enjoy. It’s like both restaurant owners love giving the middle finger to city staff, city attorney, and every resident of Fullerton.
And irony upon irony, if Joe had actually built an unenclosed ‘patio’, he might not have had to close his doors due to Covid and the prohibition of all indoor dining. He built his “patio” indoors instead, and look where that got him. These comedies of error write themselves.
FWIW, that asshat Dudley pulls in more than $100K/yr in retirement, and you, the Fullerton taxpayer gets to pay for that privilege as well as getting stuck with only 1/2 of a sidewalk in one of the most popular/busy corners of DTF.
Anything less than Mario removing the bump out (at his own expense) by September 1, 2026 and y’all should seriously revolt. Have the city attorney put language in the agreement that fines him $1000 per day (no exceptions) if not put back to original facade. Tick-tock Mario…
Dudley was a fine Planning Director and a fine, upstanding human being. He was an expert planner and doesn’t deserve any criticism.
I’d like to know who is paying the City’s legal bills (Dick Jone & Co.) for this matter – Marovic? Bet not. What a total unnecessary clusterfuck.
Florentine was paying rent – kind of ground lease to the City. I wonder if Marovic has been paying this rent after the Florentines bolted.
Might need to do a PRA.
Seems the city had ample opportunities through the design review, various permit applications, plan check, etc. etc. to tell Mario that he can’t do the addition (after all the history, etc.). They let them spend a lot of money and THEN say they have to tear it down? Sounds like spoiled grapes to me. They should wait for the next remodel to reclaim the sidewalk.
Your history is wrong. Marovic owns the building but NOT the addition which was illegally built by Florentine on the public sidewalk. When the Florentines bugged out Marovic took over the whole thing – his building AND the “bum out” as he remodeled for his new fake Irish bar. But ownership of the bump out reverted to the City after their bump out tenant – Florentine quit without removing the bump out.
So Marovic encroached on City property and had every intention of keeping the bump out into his floor plan.
Before he could open his bars in 2023 he cut a deal with the City to remove the bump out by a certain date – July 2024 – a deal he obviously had no intention of abiding by.
He can’t “do the addition” because it doesn’t belong to him. It belongs to the people of Fullerton who I hope have at least been collecting rent on it since Marovic opened.
I often wonder if ANYBODY really knows what they’re talking about when it comes to this issue.
Fullerton, where no incompetent deed goes punished.
That’s a pretty good explanation, but I wonder why Marovic made the deal in the first place. Maybe the City was holding his CUP hostage for some reason?
I know why the City made the deal – to avoid having to explain why and how it was doing demolition on a building. The long embarrassing history needed to be kept under wraps, and the noble legacy of F. Paul Dudley protected. That, and the stubborn tacit assertion that nothing is bad in downtown Fullerton.
Re-read the original comment and try your little hardest to address it properly, Mo-ron “Seems the city had ample opportunities through the design review, various permit applications, plan check, etc. etc. to tell Mario that he can’t do the addition (after all the history, etc.).”
The issue came DURING that period when the City was reviewing Marovic’s illegal work in the encroachment, dumbass. The City cut a deal with the scum-sucker Marovic who promptly reneged on the deal and sued the City.
The addition doesn’t belong to Marovic and never did. There’s no “addition” to “do.”
Moron.
They were already in the middle of construction. permits, plans already approved. moron.
Oh, Marovic was in the middle of construction all right – at risk, including an illegal encroachment into the bump out. But he had no revised Conditional Use Permit yet.
Moron.
That is 100% correct. The City required a new CUP be submitted showing the bump out gone and the sidewalk restored.
Still…people have to have permits, plans, etc to start building, etc. Sometime…some one could have said…”ya can’t do that..again”.
The City finally did. In September and October of 2022. Marovic is not any kind of victim. He’s a cheater and thief in the fine tradition of the Florentines.
Fullerton has a hard-on for cheaters and thieves. Just look at who they elect to the city council and who they employ.
“Mario” didn’t do the addition. Tony Florentine did and the incompetent Paul Dudley blessed it after the fact – a Florentine addition to their landlord’s building, built on a public sidewalk. Gee who could have foreseen legal issues later on? Not Paul Dudley. Not the Dick Joneses. Not Don Bankhead. Not Leland Wilson. Not Shawn Nelson.
Why is Zahra all smiley and happy with scofflaw Marovic, even giving him some sort of certificate? He doesn’t seem to be working for us.
Zahra works for Zahra.
Zahra works? Has this been confirmed?
Isn’t he a “producer”? Sounds impressive. Just like “health professor”.
Zahra only eats because of the free meals he gets from attending meetings and fundraisers.
Zahra loves illegals and criminals — same difference.
Disagree. Zahra only loves himself. Only dummies and Latina moms with limited command of the English language would believe otherwise.
Nothing to report.
Paul Dudley. Master of a Hundred Disasters.
F. PAUL DUDLEY. Seriously.
F. PAUL DUDLEY should know no peace whenever he ventures out of his Fullerton home and hauls his fat ass anywhere in downtown or anywhere in Fullerton for that matter, since he had such a large role in the illegal bump-out situation we’re faced with today. Start heckling him relentlessly.
Serious question though… The city did have multiple opportunities to slam the brakes on Mario’s redesigned bump out knowing full well the city owns the land on which the bump out sits. Is everyone at the city compromised? Are friends and family of city staff getting free food and drinks from Mario’s restaurants? What power does Mario hold over the city besides more/expensive lawyers? Legitimate question here… Marovic has zero legal ground to stand on, correct? He’s just fighting the city now with his attorneys. Is it just gonna go round and round and round until Fullerton just gives up (or more likely runs out of money)?
Imagine this one single issue in one little city in one little town in California and then you take it up a notch to the county level, then the state level then the federal level and tell me how much absolute corruption there is in this world.
F.U. F. PAUL DUDLEY!!! he should be heckled every place he is seen in public in Fullerton. I would pay good money to see that on video actually.
Does he show up in F-town?
I’ve seen his beady little eyes in Zahra and Cannabis Kitty campaign photos.
Marovic vs. City of Fullerton, represented by the I Can’t Believe It’s a law firm. Strictly no contest.
Wouldn’t there be a department at the city where, when Mario & Co….submitted plans and permits for the “remodel of the bump out” they would have said “stop, we have to put back to the way it was”. Seems like they screwed up and let it get pretty far down the road. I think it’s a strong legal case. City needs to say “darn, we missed it. We’ll get it on the next remodel”. In the meantime, collect those extra revenues on the 12-16 extra seats. We need the $$$.
Oh, come now. Marovic owned the main building and was well-aware that the pop out was not his to remodel – his tenant Florentine who built it was paying rent to the City for it.
In any case, the the City is not liable for omissions/errors on plans submitted. That’s why Marovic cut a deal – so he could get his CO on the building and pretend he was going to do his side of the deal.
Marovic owes the City a revised CUP, three years of rent on the space at the terms laid out), the City’s legal fees and demolition of the addition – just like he said he was going to do when he signed the agreement in September of 2022.
Marovic is a bad actor who has refused to honor an agreement he willingly signed.