120th Avenue Road Project Would Push Popular Diner Out
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (CBS4) - The owners of a small restaurant say they are ready to take on big government because they could lose their business to a new road project.
The 120th Avenue bridge in Broomfield will make it easier to get across Highway 36, but its construction could mean the end of Oscar's restaurant.
It would be easy to miss Oscar's. It's tucked away behind a tree on a quiet lane, but patrons say hungry people won't want to miss the food inside.
Oscar and Farah Majd have been cooking Greek and Persian food for more than a decade. Some of their customers come several times each week.
"I really like the food. I got the Mediterranean salad and the beef kabob," one patron said.
The husband and wife work there six days a week. They say it provides a good living.
"Everything I have is here. I (lose) my business, I (lose) my life," Farah said.
It's both an emotional and economical issue in the kitchen of Oscar's.
"Honestly we don't know what I have to do after this business -- my age, my husband's age -- we are so upset, we are so angry," Farah said.
Their son, Alan Majd, is also worried.
"They are trying to offer $300,000 for the entire property," Alan said.
Stacey Stegman with the Colorado Department of Transportation says she can't comment on the financial package for Oscar's, but says CDOT is offering fair market value for properties impacted by the project.
"It's not like we're just going in and taking homes from people," Stegman said. "There is a real estate evaluation, we encourage property and business owners to get their own, and then we talk through and come to an equitable solution so we don't have to go through court proceedings."
Still Oscar's diners, some of whom like the idea of better traffic flow in the area, are concerned about the restaurant's fate.
On Friday the Majds will close the restaurant and take their case to court.
