Cynthia Hawkins was in disbelief.
After a year spent keeping her family’s 82-year-old restaurant open through the pandemic, the owner of Hawkins House of Burgers in Watts suddenly found herself embroiled in a new battle for survival this time with the California Department of Transportation.
On June 18, Hawkins received a letter from Caltrans officials notifying her that a portion of her building was encroaching on an adjacent state-owned parcel. She told she had 60 days to remove a portion of her building that includes a corner of the restaurant’s kitchen.
“It’s completely ridiculous,” she said. “We’ve been here for over 80 years, on the same property, and now you’re telling me I have to tear part of my building down?”