APPLE VALLEY — As a red-and-white airplane lifted into the sky on a windless day, Pam Spagnuolo sat in the patio area of her restaurant on Saturday.
The Little Aviator Cafe opened for its first day at Apple Valley Airport.
Spagnuolo said business so far had been "overwhelming" with loyal customers and pilots keeping seats filled throughout the day.
Some had flown in from Hesperia Airport, where the original Aviator Cafe operated until Oct. 20.
"I haven't felt this much peace and tranquility in three years," Spagnuolo said of the new location.
Spagnulo and co-owners of the cafe announced online earlier in October they would be closing the location due to the Hesperia Airport management's decision not to extend their lease.
According to the Facebook post, they said "airline management has become increasingly difficult to work with over the past 3 years and despite our extensive investment and upkeep of the building, timely rent payments and continued business growth they refuse to cooperate with us." The cafe opened November 2016.
About a week after closing and days before the lease expired last Thursday, the cafe was broken into. Approximately $1,800 in hand and power tools were stolen, along with a $800 gumball machine, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department officials said.
Booths were also slashed and holes punched in the walls, damage that hadn't been there before the break in, said Sarah Mayne, Spagnuolo's daughter and co-owner.
Stephen Vespe, identified by detectives as one of the suspects involved, has been arrested in connection with the break in. He is the husband of airport manager Debbie Vespe, Mayne said.
Tension between the management landlords and the cafe tenants existed pretty much throughout the span of the three-year lease, Spagnuolo said.
"Any time we asked for major repairs," she said, "we were threatened with unlawful eviction."
Emails obtained by the Daily Press show that Mayne asked Debbie Vespe in February about how to resolve water damage due to a leaking roof.
A lease agreement a reporter reviewed states that the landlord "shall remain responsible for repairs to the structure of the Leased premises, including the roof" with the tenants responsible for routine repairs and parts "damaged or worn through normal occupancy."
In response, Vespe's lawyer, Louis Fazzi, emailed Mayne the next day saying she was supposed to vacate the premises no later than Dec. 31, 2018 and that "any damage your electronics suffered is your own responsibility." The lease wasn't set to expire until the end of October.
Fazzi said the Aviator tenants had until Feb. 15 to be out, otherwise eviction proceedings would commence.
After the Daily Press asked for comment from Debbie Vespe, the paper received an email on Oct. 18 from Fazzi as a response.
In the email, Fazzi said the cafe's lease was terminated "because (the tenants) breached the terms and conditions of their lease agreement."
"I am not at liberty to go into the details of why this is so, but can inform you that it was of their own doing," he wrote.
Fazzi then said he had statements from witnesses "who observed the serving of underage minors of alcohol in the bar, from members of the actual party with firsthand knowledge of it happening."
He said his "clients refrained from reporting the violations to the authorities (ABC Board) because numerous city employees frequented the bar, including several law enforcement personnel."
Fazzi also mentioned he had video footage of bar patrons urinating outside the manager's office and in the parking lot. He added the issues were just two of other unspecified matters that justified termination.
He said his "clients were unwilling to use the court process and the expense of doing so" to terminate the lease in January, as it was set to expire in October.
The bar the Aviator had operated on the second floor of the airport building closed in August. Spagnuolo said running both the bar and cafe took up too many hours from family.
Mayne disputed there were breaches of the lease and said "threats to evict us in January 2019 were never filed with the court due to a lack of legal justification for such proceedings."
She said the bar never served alcohol to minors and was made aware of public urination only once.
After the cafe's break in, Fazzi sent a letter to Mayne and Spagnuolo dated a day before the lease's expiration.
In it, he wrote "regardless of who the culprit was, it is your responsibility to fully repair the premises." It is unclear when Stephen Vespe, the husband of Fazzi's client, was arrested in connection to the Aviator's burglary. Sheriff's officials reported it a day after the letter was sent.
On Saturday, Spagnuolo seemed relieved to put the contentious past with Hesperia Airport behind her.
She admitted the move to Apple Valley wasn't easy as the smaller venue — about a third smaller than her former location — required a smaller staff.
Four people had to be let go, but Spagnuolo hopes to be able to hire back one or two if business remains steady as it did the first day.
"I'm just at ease here," she said as an airplane engine droned in the background. "It just feels like home already."
Martin Estacio may be reached at [email protected] or at 760-955-5358. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.
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