Gym Closed! 
Gym evicted…Gym Closed!
Gym Closed! Visitors and members of Fit City 24, in Ontario, were met earlier this week by a note attached to the door letting them know the gym would be moving locations immediately.
On Wednesday, that notice became a reality as the gym was closed to members and equipment began being moved out to be stored in an unknown location.
An eviction notice could also be found taped outside at the gym, which is at 1294 S.W. Fourth Ave.
According to the Oregon Secretary of State’s Corporation Division, the owner of the business is Casey Bonner. However, the owner of the building and property that has housed the fitness club since 2009 is Wright Family Investments, LLC, out of Boise.
The note attached to the door read, “We will possibly be closed to move buildings, from Wednesday to Sunday. If we do move locations we will be open again by Monday.”
Multiple attempts to reach Bonner were unsuccessful through the gym’s listed phone number as well as through the business’s Facebook page, and no other contact information was provided to gym members.
According to a court official with the Malheur County Circuit Court, Bonner had a complaint filed against him on May 9 by an attorney representing Wright Family Investments. A demand letter from the company requested approximately $19,000 in past rent, according to the court official. The complaint stemmed from Bonner not making payments required in his lease agreement, according to a court official.
Bonner did not appear during a May 18 hearing to contest the eviction notice from Wright Family Investments. When Bonner failed to appear, Judge Erin Landis issued a judgment on the case that Bonner’s business, Fit City 24, would be removed from the premise “immediately.” Bonner was served the eviction notice at the fitness club on May 18, according to a court official.
The case is now publicly closed, according to a court official, and the $19,000 demand by the building owners was not awarded.A worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, was helping clear out equipment on Thursday at the gym. He said there are two locations under consideration: space at the West Park Plaza Mall, between Ashley HomeStore and Tractor Supply, or a building formerly utilized as a secondhand store for the Salvation Army, at 1293 S.W. Fourth Ave. Both of these are within close proximity of the now-shuttered gym.
Several steps must first be taken
There are several steps the gym owner would need to take in order to comply with city ordinances about moving into a new building. These steps likely couldn’t be completed before Monday, according to Cummings.
The first of those steps would be to provide a site development plan, he said, which Bonner has yet to submit to the city.
This plan would include documents that are used to determine whether a proposal has been planned consistently according to regulations and intent of city code. The development plan addresses elements including use, building location and size, as well as parking and access.
A big key for Bonner, if he opted to try to move into the old Salvation Army building is in providing enough parking for the business.
Due to that space abutting both a residential neighborhood and nearby retail spaces, a site development plan would have to include how the business would accommodate overflow parking.
If it couldn’t, “We’d have to shut them down for not following city ordinances,” Cummings said.
Parking spot requirements vary depending on the size of the building on the lot and the use of the building in question.
According to Cummings, the current building of Fit City 24 sits at 7,564 square feet and currently has 32 on-site parking spaces available. The old Salvation Army building is 5,111 square feet with only about 11 on-site parking spaces.
To meet the city ordinances on square footage alone at the old Salvation Army building, would require 51 parking spaces, and that doesn’t include required parking for employees, Cummings said.
The zoning change, however, is fine, between the current space and former Salvation Army space, Cummings said. The existing use for Fit City 24 is C2, for general commercial use. The Salvation Army space is C1, for neighborhood commercial use. It is possible, according to Cummings, to move from one zone to the next.
Cross-parking
In addition, if Fit City 24 sought to move into the old Salvation Army space, there is a potential way to get the necessary amount of parking: a potential cross-parking agreement with adjacent properties including property like Hog Rock Cafe utilizes. An agreement such as this would allow properties to share parking spaces.Gym Closed!
To meet city code, a cross-parking agreement would require the total sum of the parking spaces on the properties entered into the agreement to equal that required by the size, use, etc. of all the buildings.Gym Closed!
If Fit City 24 moved into the old Salvation Army building, and Cummings could be shown a clear and completed site development plan, he might be able to approve the plan in a day.
However, if gym officials wanted to make improvements on the building it could take longer.
“Any structural remodeling is a whole new ball game,” Cummings said.
That would require a two- to three-week permitting process.
On that line, if the mall space was to be considered, gym officials would need to perform extensive renovation, Cummings said.
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