SAN JOSE — Dennis Fong has long dreamed of a project that would transform the tired shopping center at Story and King roads where he is a principal landowner. But city leaders 15 years ago interrupted his plans when they lost patience and moved to seize the property and hand it over to another developer who would turn it into a $60 million Latino-themed mall.

Fong rallied the center’s Asian-American and Latino property and business owners in an epic 21/2-year legal battle that triumphed over the city’s redevelopment condemnation effort in 2002 and later led to a multimillion-dollar settlement.

Now, Fong has submitted plans for a three-story office complex totaling nearly 32,000 square feet that he says will be a “signature building” for the intersection and “reflective of the community that it serves visually and artistically.”

But he’s finding opposition from many of his tenants who worry Fong’s plan will wipe out 77 existing parking spots and increase traffic and intensify an existing shortage of parking at the crowded retail center.

“My biggest concern is my clients,” said Deborah Lopez, who owns Litzy’s Hair Salon and pays $4,500 for a space inside the La Placita, a flea-market style mall at the Tropicana Shopping Center, through a Spanish interpreter. She is among at least five business tenants upset about the plan. “There will be no parking and my clients will go somewhere else.”

Fong, who was traveling overseas for business, said in an email that the project will bring much-needed office space to the neighborhood to balance out the retail use. Two-thirds of the proposed development will be office use, he said, which he added tends not to conflict with parking needs of weekend shoppers.

The colorful building will be mostly mocha, according to its site development plans, and the proposal calls for planting new shrubs, trees and vines.

City planners said project is under review and the next step is a hearing to consider issuing its permit. If approved at that meeting, the project doesn’t need a green light from the Planning Commission or City Council. It will go to Planning Commission if it’s appealed.

Lopez says the city is turning a blind eye to objections from small-business owners like herself in favor of a prominent developer like Fong.

“Fong is very connected at City Hall,” Lopez said. “He’ll get what he wants.”

Despite his tenant’s perception, Fong obviously hasn’t always enjoyed a cozy relationship with City Hall, given his battle with the city’s former redevelopment agency over its plan to seize his property through eminent domain. Fong had begun acquiring property at the center in the 1980s with bigger plans for the site. But when Fong refused to sell his land for new development, city leaders determined it was “blighted,” which authorizes the agency to take over the land.

The Chinese-American businessman fought back and successfully blocked the takeover in Santa Clara County Superior Court. Then he sued San Jose, claiming his civil rights had been violated. The city settled the lawsuit by paying Fong $6.8 million.

Today, Fong continues to own a large chunk of the center but as he looks to expand, he now finds himself at odds with other Tropicana property owners, including Hung Nguy, who owns the plaza’s largest anchor business, Tropicana Foods.

In a letter to the city’s Planning Department, Nguy said the proposed 3-story building will block views to the other businesses, which are all single story. Nguy also worries increasing the center’s traffic and parking challenges will drive customers away from his grocery store.

“The entrances and its exits are already very hard to get in or get out of the shopping center,” Nguy wrote.

One longtime customer, Anthony Guevara, said it takes him 10 to 15 minutes to find parking just to visit his favorite barber shop.

“It’s worse on weekends,” Guevara said Thursday.

But Fong said the traffic congestion is on city streets, not inside his center. He proposes reopening a fourth driveway near Tropicana Foods to let cars exit by Calderon’s Tires. That exit, according to Fong, was closed by the city in lieu of a promised traffic light on Story Road that never happened.

“This will restore the exit valve that was closed by the redevelopment plans in 2000,” Fong said. “By reopening the fourth exit, there will be a better flow of traffic within and outside of the center, allowing people to exit quickly and free up parking.”

While a majority of customers cited parking as the biggest deterrent to shopping at Tropicana, some said Fong’s plan could bring more jobs to the city and increase options for shoppers.

“It’s good to have more business,” said Eduardo Tapea, a 30-year-old utility worker who visits the center three times a week to deposit money, pay his phone bill and get a haircut. “I think it’s good but he needs to extend the parking.”

Councilman Tam Nguyen, whose district includes the center, said he appreciates Fong’s vision to bring more office space to the area, but says it does not alleviate traffic or parking concerns.

“It’s probably one of the worst traffic impact areas that I have seen,” Nguyen said. “I think the business owners’ concerns are legitimate. With those concerns not being addressed, I don’t think I’d be able I could support it.”

Contact Ramona Giwargis at 408-920-5705. Follow her at Twitter.com/ramonagiwargis.