Signal Hill

Signal Hill has reached tentative agreement with a group of six Long Beach automobile dealers to move to a 25-acre auto mall planned near the San Diego Freeway.

City officials hammered out the accord during a meeting Tuesday with the Signal Hill Auto Center Joint Venture, according to City Manager Louis Shepard. Officials said, however, that they would not release details of the agreement until a memorandum of understanding is drafted and signed.

The City Council was scheduled Tuesday to vote on beginning the purchase of property for the mall, which would be bounded by Spring and 28th streets and Cherry and Junipero avenues. But Shepard said the council delayed the decision until the memorandum of understanding is signed.

During the council’s Tuesday meeting, the owner of a 20-acre parcel that the city wants for the auto mall expressed opposition to the deal. Velma Robinett, trustee for the parcel, said the land has been in her family for years and that she would fight any attempts by the city to buy the property.