Mayor Bob Filner today 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.
