HomeMy WebLinkAboutMARCH 19, 2007 (2)
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031907pcmeeting (2)
ARCADIA CITY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
RE: "THE SHOPS AT SANTA ANITA PARK"
MONDAY; MARCH 19, 2007
7:00 P.M.
Arcadi a Masoni c Lodge
50 West Duarte Road c
Arcadia, california 91007
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MR. OLSON: This is the planning commission
regular meeting for Monday, March 19th, 2007 here at 7:00
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o'clock P.M. at the Maso ni c Lodge, and would everybody
please now rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance.
(pledge of all egi ance.)
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Can I have I roll call,
8 ple.ase.
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THE' CLERK:
commission Baderian.
COMMISSIONER BADERIAN: Present.
THE CLERK: Beranek.
COMMISSIONER BERANEK: Present.
THE CLERK: Hsu.
COMMISSIONER: present.
THE CLERK: Olson.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Present.
THE CLERK: parrille.
COMMISSIONER PARRILLE: Present.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
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20 NOW, is there any supplemental information from
21 staff regarding the agenda?
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COMMISSIONER KRUCKEBERG:
We have several
23 additional letters that were added to the record. I'll
24 go through those in my presentation if that's all right
25 with the commission.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON:
That would be fine. Now
is the time reserved for those in the audience who wish
to address the planning commission on non-public hearing
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items with a five-minute time limit per person for that,
and this is non-public hearing items, so if you have
anything to say regarding tonight's issue, that will come
later. okay. someone's got their arm up.
YOU wish to address the planning commission on a
non-commission item?
MR. KIMBLE: Yes.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Okay. please step forward.
The podium is over to your right.
State your name and address, please.
MR. KIMBLE: My name is Bob Kimble, 140 Santa
Cruz Road, and I'd like to address the commission
regarding the newly-installed signs on Santa cruz,
San Rafael, San Miguel. It's physically behind Parsons.
I know that the signs will be enforced May -- or
I'm sorry, Apri'l 1, and as a resi.dent there, I've already
paid for two parking permits for two vehicles, $170, and
I would like to -- kind of nervous.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: You didn't expect such a
big audience.
MR. KIMBLE: I'd like to see if the city will
amend, adopt or provide parking stickers for residents.
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I mean, I can go doWn with my water bill or something
like that and say that I am a resident and I should be
abl~ to park in front of my own house on the street
during the day between 11:00 and 6;00 for more than
two ho.urs.
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031907pcmeetin9 (2)
So I'd like to know ,f the city is working on
that, has worked on it. adopted something to change the
sticker, provide a new sticker or something, so that come
April 1, my vehicle won't be towed in the front of my own
home.
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You know, I mean, I do the deal for the
relatives and stuff like that, but weekends, I know it's
going to be a problem, so I know weekends Parsons only
works four tens, so Friday through sunday is fine, but
I'd JUSt like to know where the city is going with these
new signs for the residents. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Mr. Kimble. The
city manager is here is tonight, and as well as the
assistant city man manager, and I'm certain that you'll
address this issue, and can you reply back to him?
MR. PENMAN: Yes. we'll refer that to our
traffic advisory committee. we are working with parsons
to solve thetr parki ng problem, and we're very fami 1 i ar
wi th the issue and wi th the resi dents, so we'll refer
that to the traffic advisory and make a recommendation on
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that matter to the city counsel.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Great. Thank you,
Mr. Penman.
okay. Is there anyone else wishing to address
the planning commission on a non-public hearing items?
A VOICE: Turn up the amplifier.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Anyone else wishing to
address the planning commission on non-public hearing
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031907pcmeeting (2)
items. okay. seeing none, we're going to move to our
public hearing items.
we have one item, it's public hearing
SP05-01/GP05-01/ZC-0504, it's the Caruso Property
Management, it's called the tShops at Santa Anita" at the
Santa Anita race track.
There's certain guidelines we're going to follow
tonight, they're on the back of your agenda. And I'm
going to quickly go through them. After I'm done
speaking, going through these rules that the planning
commission has adopted over the last couple of months
regarding not only this project, but also one that we
heard several weeks ago regarding Westfield's expansion
at the mall, when I'm done, the planning report will be
presented by staff.
Then the commissioners have an opportunity to
have any questions answered at that time of staff. Then
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the applicant will be afforded the opportunity to address
the commission up to approximately 30 minutes.
Then the public is afforded an opportunity,
whether you're in favor of or' opposed to or in. the middle
or wherever you're at, to address the commission, but you
will be 1 i mi ted to thre.e mi nutes maxi mum. we have a
timer. when the red light comes on, then your time will
be up. And we do need to limit each and every speaker to
three minutes. We've got over 90 people that have
already filled out cards that were available to you when
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ft
you came in.
They will be -- the procedure will be that I
will callout the person's name from the first card,
they're all randomly in here. I will also ask, then,
from the next card, the next speaker come up and stand
nearby so that 'they can address us, and we'll just go
through this motion there so we can save some time and
not wait for people to come up from the very back and so
on.
when all the people that are finished speaking,
then the applicant will be afforded the opportunity for
brief rebuttal, which will be limited to 15 minutes.
Then the planning commission will be closing the
public hearing, and at that point the commissioners may
the proposal at this time, or we could also, depending on
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the hour, we might move, to extend the meeting up to
wednesday, March 21st, to continue to discuss it.
The commission's purpose here is to take public
testimony, listen to the proposal, and then we will be
providing a recommendation to the city council to either
approve, approve with various conditions that we might
impose, or modifications that we might impose, or to deny
the application.
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And as this, whatever recommendation the
planning commission makes, if there's a dissent among
members of the planning commission, any of their comments
will become part of the pubhc record in any event, and
all that wi'll be forwarded to the city council, and that
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is expected I think sometime early in April or at some
point in April to then have another -- to have a public
hearing.
what we're hearing tonight is your testimony,
and we'll be making a recommendation to the city council,
the city council will make the ultimate decision
regarding this issue.
okay. Now, I would also ask right now, make
certain that all your cell phones are turned, pagers are
off. I would ask that and remind you that this is not
a popularity contest. We don't, we've don't want
applause, please. NO booing or hissing, please. No
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banners being raised.
okay. And I'm certain that there will be
somebody that will say something that i.s witty or funny,
okay, you can chuckle, but no laughing, please. okay.
It .just disrupts and it will prolong this meeting, and as
you can see, it's going to be a very long meeting. And
so I would appreciate that.
we also have members of the-- several members
from the police department and the fire department here,
fi re department maki ng sure we di.dn't overflow the room,
and the police department. If anybody gets disruptive or
unruly, I will ask, and that the police department will
act as the sergeant at arms, and I or any of the other
commissions can ask them to escort you out of this
meeting.
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Finally, when you're speaking address the chair
and the rest of the commissioners. It is not, as you
stand up here, you are giving public testimony to us,
you're not to turn around and start talking back to the
audience.
okay. NoW, we also have our city attorney here,
Steve Deitsch, and do you want to add anything to what I
sai d?
MR. DEITSCH: Chairman and commissioners.
chairman, I think you've explained sufficiently what the
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ground rules are for tonight's public hearing. I do want
to emphasize one thing. My understanding is that this
commission i.ntends to complete the public hearing
tonight, even if it's in the wee hours of the morning.
Your reference to continuing the matter to Wednesday
would be solely after the public hearing is closed, not
to take more testimony, but simply to allow the
commission to deliberate on wednesday without public
testimony at that time. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: That is correct, and we've
al so deci dedthat at our 1 ast commi ssi on meeti ng that
that was, would be the procedure. Although it would be a
public hearing, I mean, it would be an open public
meeting, but if we continue it, once we close the public
hearing, then the Ilub li c heari ng is closed. And then we
will deliberate and discuss. There will be no further
comments from anybody in the public at that point.
IS that correct, Steve?
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031907pcmeeting (2)
MR. DEITSCH: That is correct.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
gone through the ground rules. Now would
the staff report.
COMMISSIONER KRUCKEBERG: Thank you, Mr. olson.
Thank you. welcome, everyone. Thank for coming. A
couple of housekeeping items. There are rest rooms in
okay.
be the
we've
time for
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the back right, to my right outside in the back of the
hall.
And as Mr. olson mentioned, speaker cards are
available up at the end of staff table. please fill one
out and get them up to us as soon as you can if you do
intend to speak tonight.
In terms of the staff report, the applicant,
Caruso property Management, in partnership with Magna
Entertainment, is proposing the Shops at Santa Anita
project on the 304-acre property which is the Santa Anita
race track. The project consists of development of an
829,250 square foot commerci.al, retail and office
development on 85 acres on the southern parking lot of
the race track, which will be arranged as
pedestrian-oriented main street.
Approximately 804,000 square feet of this
project would be retail commercial uses. The other
25,000 are projected to be offices that have been
earmarked for the Arcadia school District.
The project would also include adaptive reuse of
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031907pcmeeting (2)
the western portion of the grandstand of the race track
to construct an approximately 98,000 square foot
simulcast Center, including existing wager and restaurant
uses within the race track itself.
The' project also includes a significant amount
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of open space and landscaped areas. A 1.4 acre portion
of the project will be a landscaped area at the northern
end of the property, which would interface along with the
existing Paddock Gardens at the race track.
There would be a seven and a half acre open
space landscaped area on the southern end of the project,
closer to Huntlngton Drive, which would also include a
3.5 acre water feature.
In addition, improvements to vehicle and
pedestrian access of course would be provided on site, as
well as off site at other ancillary facilities to support
the project.
There are some boards available to my left that
show some of the site plan, and you'll hear a little bit
more about the project and the terms of the actual uses
and the layout.
Can people hear me in the back okay? It's okay?
All right.
The proposal in front of the commission tonight
includes a specific plan, general plan amendment, zone
change, architectural design repackage, deSign
guidelines, and development agreement. To evaluate the
impacts of the project, a final EIR has also been
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provi ded.
The purpose of this hearing, as Mr. olson
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mentioned, is to provide the planning commission an
opportunity to make recommendations on to the city
council on each of those entitlements that I mentioned.
This is a recommendation. The city council will be the
final decision maker on the project.
I'm going to briefly go through each of the
entitlements to explain what they mean as part of the
project.
The specific plan, the specific plan is a tool
that's commonly used for large areas or unique properties
that require special attention. since 1996 in the
Arcadia General plan, the plan includes specific language
about commercial development on these 35 acres in the
southern portion of the race track property.
The general plans mentions that the specific
plan is the appropriate method, one appropriate method
for regulating this property. The Shops at santa Anita
specific Plan will provide policy and guidance for all
the development that occurs withfn the 304 acres withi n
the specific plan area.
The plan itself provides allowable land uses,
development standards and administrative procedures along
with implementing actions intended to provide quality
development on the site.
The project also includes general plan
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amendments. l;hereare general plan amendments that would
go along with thespedfic plan to amend the land use
designation within the general plan for the entire race
track property, both horse racing and commercial, which
it is currently, to specific plan. To amend also the
general plan language to reflect the nature of the
development anticipated in the specific plan, and to
reflect further the implementation of that 1996 change to
the general plan that I mentioned to add the commercial
designation to this portion of the city.
There is also a general plan amendment to amend
language regarding view protection. There is also a zone
change proposed. The 304-acre parcel now is currently
zoned to Sl, which is special use, which has to do with
the race track, ~nd also R1, which is residential single
family. And this has been in place since the '40's.
The addition of the specific plan will create an
overlay zone of SP, specific plan, over the entire site.
And it will also create a new zone on that site of 85
acres called commercial entertainment, CEo
As .I menti oned , all of the development wi thi n
the Sl. Rl and CE portions of the project will all comply
with the provisions of the specific plan.
I did already describe what would be in the
general sense the project in the commercial entertainment
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area. The southern portion within the Sl portion, which
makes up 219 acres, that's the race track property, the
development includes the simulcast Center and the paddock
Gardens that I mentioned in the beginning.
A note on the Simulcast Center. It will be
constructed completely within the footprint' of the
existing grandstand.. The simulcast Center will
accommodate uses that are currently located within the
race track. That includes restaurant uses and parimutuel
wagering.
It's important to note that there are no new
types of wageri ng proposed as part of this simulcast
center, it just consolidates the existing uses that. are
within the race track now. Parimutuel wa~ering is posted
throughout the race track now, it would be continue with
the simulcast center.
With the number of comments made through our
process about the Horse wizard machines as they're
called, there are 47 such machines currently in the
southern portion of the grandstand. Those may be moved
to this new Simulcast area, but those are simply another
method of parimutuel wagering, so again, no new methods
of wagering proposed as part of this project.
rhe terms of the R1 zoning, the residential
zoning, the. 78 acres of R1 zoning on the .northern
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property site as I mentioned that's been in place in the
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city since the 1940's, no new residential uses will be
permitted through this specific plan document. I can
state that very clearly within the specific plan
document.
New development as a result of the project in
this area would be limited access parking, circuiation
areas, infrastructure serving development within the CE
and Sl portions of the project. In the proposal to add
residential in this portion would require a specific plan
amendment and .addi ti ona 1 envi ronmenta 1 revi ew. so agai n,
no new residential is proposed as part of the project.
Architecture and design, I won't go into a lot,
I think there will be a presentation in a bit that will
talk a bit more about it. There are a very elaborate set
of design guidelines and architectural design review
package that is prepared as part of the project that will
provide staff with adequate ability to regulate any of
the projects that come in for plan check. It's an
excellent set of architectural packages, which include
precedent images of other projects, and also elevations
for this project.
Just in general, a couple other regulations.
parki ng proposed meets the requi rement of the muni ci pal
code. There are extensive landscaping and open space
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areas as I mentioned, lighting, access and circulation
improvements. It's important to note that parking and
signagewill meet the code as required by Measure zone 0,
which was passed by the Arcadia voters last November.
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031907pcmeeting (2)
As I mentioned, to evaluate the impacts of the
project, and environmental impact report was completed.
It was completed by EIP ASsociates, the city's
consultants. On October 23rd, 2006 the draft EIR was
circulated for a 45-day comment period, which was then
extended an additional eight days, for a total of a
33-day comment period, which ended on December 14th.
During that comment period there was a hearing
in front of this commission which took public comment on
the draft EIR,and these comments along with all of the
responses we received in writing from the public, from
the community, have been incorporated into the final EIR
that has been distributed and evaluated by this
commission.
The, as I mentioned,the FEIR, final EIR
incorporates all these comments. We received comment
letters from local, state and regional agencies as well
as from individuals. We also received comment cards from
Arcadia First on both this, the draft EIR that was in
front of the commission, and the previous draft EIR,
'Which had been withdrawn at an earlier date. we were
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asked to respond to both of those sets of comment cards,
and we've done that.
There were five alternatives that were evaluated
as part of the fi nal EIR. The no project alternative.
.also an alternative that looked at continuation of uses
allowed by the general plan currently. A reduced project
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031907pcmeeting (2)
alternative, which essentially cut the project in half
and evaluated impacts of that project. our alternative
looked at a mix of uses which included a hotel and
offices, and finally, an alternative, site configuration
a 1 ternati Ire.
With regard to the proposed project, the final
EIR identified a hundred potential environmental impacts.
of those impacts, 84 were determined to be less than
significant: after mitigation. The additional impacts
were identified as significant and avoidable after
mitigation.
The project includes what's called an MMRP, a
mi tigati on monitori ng and reporti ng program. Thi s
program includes what's called mitigation measures as
well as project requirements. These are items that the
applicant developer or successor in interest would need
to complete prior to construction, prior to operation,
prior to the issuance of a .certificate of occupancy.
There are different time thresholds for meeting
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all of these requirements. There were 79 mitigation
measures on this project, as well, as 43 project
re~uirements. In addition to that, the city has
recommended conditions of approval, so there are a number
of regulations to insure that this project mitigates its
impacts.
For those impacts that cannot be mitigated, the
city as the lead agency may balance the economic, social
technological and other benefits of the project against
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its environment impacts, and may find that the benefits
of the projects outweigh the impacts. The city would do
this through what's called a statement of overriding
considerations, and a draft statement of overriding
considerations is included in the materials that are in
front of the commission tonight.
There have been several other materials that
have been placed with the commissioners tonight that have
been coming in since the final EIR and the staff report
was submitted to the commission. There is an errata
sheet provided as well as an additional environmental
analysis that considered studying relocation of the
saddling barn at the racetrack, as well as moving the
existing excuse me, the proposea buildings off of the
Los Angeles county Flood control channel, what was called
wash.
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This was a recommended study in. the staff
report. In reaction to that, EIP & Associates did. submit
a revised environmental analysis which looked at the
impacts of rather than demolishing the existing saddling
barn at' the race track, relo.cating it, and also looked at
the impacts as I mentioned of moving the buildings off of
the flood control channel.
That analysis has been provided to the
commission. we have copies available. And the analysis
has concluded that there would be no additional impacts
above and beyond what was evaluated in the original
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environmental impact report. we can talk more about that
if there are questions.
we also included new letters, e-mails and
correspondence that were provided to the city following
the release of the EIR. These have been provided to the
commission along with the responses to all those lay
comments. An additional errat sheet was provided along
with some edits to the staff report, and that is a
document as well that's been given to the planning
commission.
There are two minor clarifications to the
development agreement, language. which has also been
replaced, it's a one-page document which has been placed
at each of your seats today. And finally there have been
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1 several pieces of correspondences that have come in
2 either today or after close of business on Friday, and I
3 would just like to mention those into the record now.
4 we have a letter dated March 15th from the
Rancho Santa Anita Residents Association. We have a
letter from the city of San Moreno, also dated -- it's
dated March 14th, received by the city March 15th. We
have a letter 1:hat was received at the planning
commissioners' homes which we -- which we have provided
to you. A letter received today into the record, March
19th, from Mr. and Mrs. Norvill Gardener. We have a
letter .received March 19th from the City of Temple City.
And we have a letter received March -- dated March 12th,
received March 14th, Doris Nelson, also would like to add
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031907pcmeeting (2)
that to the record and we can discuss those letters if
you'd like.
MR. DEITSCH: Mr. chairman, for purposes of
clarification, one of the letter described was an
anonymouns letter. It was not received by the full
commission, but by one commissioner in his mailbox at
home, and by a second commissioner as I understand it by
e-mail. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON:
were I guess forwarded on that
very much for clarifying that.
That's correct, and we
e-mail. Okay. Thank you
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MR. KRUCKEBERG: we have a number of folks
available to help with the questions and issues tonight.
First of all we have Terri Vitar and Alison Rondone from
EIP ASsociates. Terri is at the staff table.
Through our receipt of comments some of the most
improtant issues to the community include traffic, of
course, and impacts to public services such as fire and
police. So with that I'd like to turn it over to Don
Penman, assistant citY manager, development services
director, to introduce some other staff memberos to
discuss these important issues.
MR. PENMAN: Thank you. Mr. chairman, members
of the commission, as part of the materials you've
received there have been a number of comments and
questions pertaining to the impact of the proposed
project on dtY publi,c services. And we do have
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representatives from various city departments here this
evening that can address those areas and respond to any
questions you have.
specifically we have representatives from the
police department, fire department, public works services
department, and our traffic engineering section. Each of
them wi 11 provide a bri ef commentregardi ng the proj ect
and its impact on the respective departments.
At this point I'd like to introduce police chief
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Bob Sanderson.
CHIEF SANOERSON: Good evening, Mr. Chair and
members of the planning commission.
The primary mission of the Arcadia Police
Department is to provide for the public safety. In order
to insure that we do so requiers that we constantly
evaluate the demands placed on the department that comes
from the reporting of crime, the need for traffic
enforcement and general public assistance and proactive
community involvement. Proactive such as the ACTION
Program and interaction with schools and other
organizations.
The level of servi ce provi ded to the communi ty
is determined in part by our staffing levels as they
relate to calls for service, our response time to calls,
the need for formal investigations, and our ability to
provide traffic and partking enforcement, as well as our
ability to respond to extraordinary events such as
disasters.
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We provide for our staffing and department needs
through a budgetary process which insures adequate
resources as provided to hire and train staff and
purchase the needed equipment.
The police department staff has reviewed the
proposed Shops at Santa Anita project for the purpose of
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determining the potential impacts that this project may
have on police service. To determine the anticipated
calls for service that the Shops at santa Anita would
generate for the police department, we look to our
experience with Westfield Santa Anita for purposes of
comparable uses.
The department expects that the amount of police
calls that could be generated by the proposed shops at
santa Anita would 'be approximately 65 percent of that
generated by Westfield Santa Anita when comparing gross
leasable retail space. A corresponding percentage of
formal investigations are also expected to result.
To maintain the current level of service, the
proposed shgps at santa Anita could generate the need ,for
three additional poiice officers and' no additional
detectives. The actual impacts may be of a lesser degree
depending on the level of security maintained on the
site.
The proposed shops at Santa Anita project
includes a master security plan that directs security
general operations, public relations, media contacts,
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site access to public safety, emergency response, mjssing
children, crimes, public safety communications and other
aspect that affect public safety and coordination with
the police department as well as existing security forces
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at Santa Anita Park.
The department concludes the master security
plan as comprehensive, and addresses all concerns to
mitigate the need for police responses to the site. It
also facilities the official police response when
necessary .
In regard to police response time throughout the
city, a systematic study of police response time for 2005
reflected a response time to non-emergency calls at 15.5
minutes. The 2006 response time average for
non-emergency calls was 12.14 minutes,. reflecting an
average decrease in response times of over three minutes
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from 2005.
Response time for priority one emergency calls
has remained consistent over the years at approximately
two mi nutes.
Traffic control is an important issue for
everyone, and the park performs a variety of efforts
toward traffic enforcement. we regularly meet with the
Public 'Traffic Advisory committee for the city to work on
solutions to traffic concerns. The department .has a
dedicated traffic section determining day-to-day traffic
needs, and also partners with other law enforcement
agencies in mutual effor.ts towil:rds reducing incidents of
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DUI and other traffic hazards.
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The department' understands that with the
operation of the proposed Shops at Santa Anita that there
will be days during the year when many activities are
occurring within the city that will create heavy traffic
conditions. This has always been the case in our history
as exacted by events such as the British cup at Santa
Anita park, after-christmas sales at Westfield Mall,
Harvest Moon Festival at the county park, and other
events.
On each of these types of occasions, the
department's plan for extra staffing, specifically for
the purpose of providing traffi~ and crowd control, and
where necessary to provide staffing for satellite parking
space, for your temporary traffic events, and for better
measures to mitigate these impacts.
It also bears noting that prior to the advent of
intertrack wagering in 1987, the Santa Anita park hosted
30 to 50,000 patrons on a routi ne basi s. The pol i ce
dpeartment developed staffing and traffic plans that
handl ed this addi ti ona 1 traffi c whi'l e at the same ti me
being able to maintain acceptable police response time
for service calls.
In conclusion, we believe that the mitigations
outlined in the environmental impact report and specific
plan that the police department would be able to maintain
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a level of service in the community. Thank you.
MR. PENMAN: Thank you, chief. And I'd like to
have Fire chief David Lugo address the commission.
CHIEF LUGO: Mr. chairman, members of the
commission, my name is David Lugo, I'm the fire chief
here in the city of Arcadia.
The Arcadi a Fi re Department has along history
of bei ng recognized as a superi or fi refi ghti ng and EMS
agency. The Arcadia Fire Department is currently rated
as class 1 by the Insurance Services office, which is
ISO.
Part. of the criteria that is utilized to
determine that rating is the measure of ability to
specify a number of firefighters -- excuse me -- to a
specific location within allowable time parameters. The
problems are moderated by the severity of the hazard,
required fire flows, and other related issues.
AS a result, the fire department administration
monitors the response times, that is the time the call is
received from the dispatcher agency to the time we arrive
there on a continuous basis. Quarterly summaries are
reported by dispatch, and include all agencies that
currently contract with them for dispatch services.
Two standards of the AFD, Arcadia Fire
Department, imposes upon itself for evaluation are, one,
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arrive on the scene with a line of support within five
minutes 90 percent of the time. Two, safely advance a
single hose line as set forth by the National Fire
protection ASsociation and OSHA standards into a single
family residence within eight minutes of dispatch 90
percent of the time.
The dispatch information presented assures that
these standards w111 continue well into the future and
continue its monitoring. In anticipation of increased
call volume citywide and the motivation to strive for
excellence in delivery of services, the fire department
most recently i.nstituted a significant improvement in its
Als service for cardiac patients.
specifically, we have moved to 12-lead EKG's
that can be read at a hospital while a patient is in the
field, allowing for improved diagnosis and improved entry
t.ime. In addition. Methodist Hospital has recently been
approved as anST myocardial infaraction STEMI -- STEMI
receiving center. This will afford better ALS care and
much improved entry time into a STEMI center, improving
the efficiency of the health services delivered to the
city and the citizens of Arcadia.
In summary, steps have been taken to improve the
efficiency of services, allowing for more expedient
responSeS that include transportation to medical
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fad 1i ti es .
It should be also noted that the fire department
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recognizes call volume has increased citywide, and will
increase due to this projec~. I~ also recognizes the
fire prevention bureau's work load has increased and will
increase well. To what extent, nobody can predict with a
hundred percent accuracy. Bu~ as I have already
mentioned,continuing of monitoring of response times,
call volume and work load will remain in effect. If and
when the determination is made that call volume exceeds
the department's ability to maintain its excellent
response to others, the city has the ability to apply
sys~ematic interventions to compensate for the
additionale volume.
specifically, one of the means is achieved in
the city's annual budget process that is reviewed and
adopted by the city council. During that process,
consideration is given ~o the cost of specific service
leveJs, and a determina~ion is made as to the
poli cymakers' level of service that they choose for the
community.
once the se rvi ce 1 eve 1 is dete rmi ned, it is
reflected in the budget by the appropriations gran~ed to
the staffing levels and the configuration of personnel.
The ability to closely monitor the effects of the city's
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demographics and community profile of the firefighter is
achieveable. It is also possible to introduce specific
measures and i.nterventions on an annual or semiannual
basis to ensure the current service levels as desired by
the policymakers are.maintained or even improved. Thank
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MR. PENMAN: And now, Mr. chairman,
commi ssi oners, Deputy Public works di rector Tom Tate wi 11
address some public service questions.
MR. TATE: Good evening, chai,rman and
commissioners. My name is Tom Tate, Deputy public works
servi ces Di rector.
california state law and the California water
code requires that water purveyors, the city in this
case, prepare and approve a WSA for projects of this
nature. The proposed water supply assessment is for the
city to verify that it has sufficient water supplies to
meet future water demands, the project's future demands,
including normal water years, a single dry water year,
and multiple dry water years.
The conclusion of the WSA is that the city has
sufficient water supplies to reliably and sufficiently
meet the city's future demands, the project's future
demands, including normal water year, a single dry water
year, and multiple dry water year.
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The WSA was approved at the ci ty council meeti ng
on January 3rd, 2006. NoW, California state law and the
Department of Water Resources require that every water
purveyor prepare and every water management plan be
submitted to the Department of Water Resources. This is
significant because the city used it urban water
management plan as a source document for the
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incorporation of the WSA.
The city of Arcadia meets its daily water
demands from 13 active wells. We put out of two main
water basins, the Main San Gabriel Basin and the Raymond
Basin. The system's average annual water demand is
approximately 16,500 acre feet per year, and the proposed
project's water demand is going to be approximately 425
acre feet per year. Thank you.
MR. PENMAN: Thank you, Tom. And now phil wray,
our city engineer, will address some of the traffic
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matters.
MR. WRAY Thank you, Mr. penman. Mr. chairman,
members of the commission. with regard to traffic, the
EIR includes an extensive traffic analysis of the
condi tions at 42 key i ntersecti ons wi thi n the regi on.
Wi th and without proj ect traffi c.
AS a result of the analysis, with the project
traffic, mitigation measures are identified to mitigate
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project impacts to a level that conforms with the city's
general plan and also the Los Angeles congestion
Management plan. Developers are required to comply with
all mitigation measures in the EIR.
To summarize some of the key traffic mitigation
measures, first ,of all, there are physical improvements
that are required at 20 impacted intersections. The
developer will be required to construct such improvements
as additional thro~gh lanes, right turn and left turn
lanes, and traffic signal modifications at each of these
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20 intersections that might require some widening to make
those work.
The other element is traffic control system
improvements that are required for 12 intersections. The
developer will be required to purchase and install such
things as underground conduit and fiber optics cable,
closed circuit television cameras, visual detection
systems, and traffic monitoring stations that will be
added to the city's traffic control system that is
currently being implemented, and to assist the city in
the management of traffic flow at these key intersections
from the city's traffic managing center in city hall.
A third important measure for managing traffic,
which is not part of the EIR, but it's improtant to note
that it has already, it's actually in place today, has
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been for some time, is the police traffic management and
control program which is utilized on big attendance days
at the race track.
The city's police force has been using their
traffic management program for these racing event days
actually for several decades. and it's committed to
continue to use this practice in the future.
Just some other key elements of the EIR to note
regarding traffic mitigation. There is also included a
mitigation to control construction traffic during
construction, also protection against neighborhood
traffic. and parking intrusion, and also requirement for a
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parking operations plan. And with that, that concludes
my remarks.
MR. PENMAN: Mr. Chairman, that concludes the
remarks we have of staff, unless Jason or steve have any
additional ones.
COMMISSIONER KRUCKEBERG: I just wanted to add
two additional letters that were hand delivered to us
today. I wanted to introduce those into the record. We
received a letter from westin Benshoof on March 19th,
delivered today at the hearing. Each of you have a copy
of that letter. .we also received a letter from chatten,
Brown & carstens, which has also been placed at your
places here tonight.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: All right. Thank you.
Steve, do you have anything else you'd like to add?
MR. DEITSCH: NO, nothi ng further.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Just a couple of other
quick items before we open the public hearing for the
applicant. And when we do that, by the way, we're going
to, all of us are going to go down and sit here so we can
see the presentation.
That's the first thing. Also, when you get up
here, if anybody is speaking and somebody has already
said something that been said, and you just want to
repeat it, just. say I concur with the last speaker, or
the speaker, you know, before or whatever, so we don't
drag that part of it on.
And at any time we might be, depending on the
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staff's needs and well as the planning commissioners, we
might take any type of a break at any time, and we'll
announce that.
We've got a stenographer typing up everything,
and -- stenographer, I guess. Sorry. And so there might
be a few breaks that we might need to take just for that
a10ne. And then one final thing, just something that,
I'd just like .to mention that tomorrow. night at 7:00
o'clock the city council has a regularly-scheduled
meeti ng at the ci ty counci 1 chambers, and the Arcadi a
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mayor, Roger Chandler will be presenting the state of the
city address at that time, and everybody is invited, and
if you can't attend, and I don't think there will be
enough seats for everybody to attend, but you can see
that on TV" Time-warner Channel 3 or champion channel 6.
and it will be repl ayed several ti mes in the fo 11 owi ng
week.
And he will be giving a great report to the
community discussing the overall condition of the City of
Arcadia, and the significant accomplishments of the
previous year. okay.
Having said that, I'm going to go ahead and open
the public hearing. The applicant is here and wishing to
address us, and then we're going to head down here before
you start to speak. And you've got 30 minutes. AS we
make our way down, we will be dropping the screen here,
so bear with us for a second.
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MR. HAINES: Good evening. Testing. Good
evening. My name is George Haines, and I'm the general
manager and vice president of Santa Anita Park. We at
santa Anita Park are one hundred percent behind the shops
at santa Anita. All of us. The ownership, the
management, and as you may know, all three of the state's
major horse racing organizations, the trainers, the
owners and the breeders have all thrown their support
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behind this important project.
We believe that the development of this project
is absolutely vital to.the long-term success of Santa
Anita Park. Santa Anita Park is not seeking to become a
casino, a "racino," or anything other than what we are, a
race track. casinos are regulated by the state of
california. And having casino gambling is strictly
prohibited under california law.
I care deeply about Arcadia, my grandparents
moved to this city in 1918, I attended Arcadia public
schools, and have worked at santa Anita for the past 35
years. I have seen this community grow and prosper. I
want what's best for the city, and I believe that
includes insuring that Santa Anita park. is part of our
community for many years to come.
AS you well know, Santa Anita Park and Arcadia
have a shared history. At the track, we have always
worked hard to become good neighbors. We support local
charities and local businesses, and make our property
available for communi~y ~vents. The annual high school
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graduation ceremony is a great example.
We're honored that Arcadia residents have
welcomed us and allowed us to be part of this special
community. For many years the track has been one of the
best sources of revenue for the city, and these revenues
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have helped pay for ci ty services such as pol ice and fi re
departments.
AS our business has declined, revenues for the
city have declined as well. We see the Shops at santa
Ani~a as a perfect means for increasing revenues to the
city, and to pay for important services such as police
and fi re .
The south parki ng lots are zoned forcommerci a 1
development. This property will be developed sooner or
later. We are fortunate that caruso Affiliated wants to
work with us, and we think it's a golden opportunity for
santa Anita and for Arcadia.
We believe the Shops at santa Anita will bring
people to santa Anita park, and introduce more families
to what we call the sport of Kings. We support the shops
at santa Anita because we know it will be an asset to the
entire community.
I'd urge you to also support this project as we
do. Thank you for your time, and now let me turn this
over for a detailed presentation about the project to
Rick Caruso, the CEO of caruso Affiliated.
MR. CARUSO: Good evening, members of the
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commission, city attorney, community development,
administrator, members of staff, fire chief, police
chief, and all the other officials of the city, and the
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1 residents of Arcadia. Thank you very much for being here
2 tonight.
I can't tell you how excited I am to be here.
It's been a long and fruitful process. And I want to
start out before we get into the project description with
a few objectives that are laid out in the staff report,
which I think are worth highlighting quickly.
The objectives that the staff from this city and
ourselves and many of the residents have laid out clearly
outline a few things. one is to create a center with a
vibrant, outdoor, main street ambiance, high quality
retail, dining, cinema, and entertainment venues that
visitors will be attracted to Santa Anita race track
throughout the year.
Create a high-quality, open air commercial and
retail center that is distinctive to Arcadia. Create
dynamic public space, enhance the cultural fabric of the
community, provide an expanded economic base for the city
that maximizes property value and instills tax revenue.
Physically connect the center to the Paddock
Gardens while preserving the formal design of the Paddock
Gardens, in order to create a seamless relationship
between the new project and the race track. Develop and
provi de new office space to the Arcadi a school District
administration, to allow the classrooms to be expanded
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and reduce overcrowding at no cost to the Arcadia school
Di stri ct.
provide.a center that will attract patrons who
will also visit the track, thereby bolstering and
strengtheni ng the fi nancial vi abili ty of the track and
ensure its continued operation. create a physical
connection to the adjoining homeowners and also so people
can walk, for pedestrian use, and our neighbors next to
us, westfield Mall.
Ensure land use capability -- compatibility
sorry, by creating logical physical relationships.
Create a special place that blends new complex of uses
and buildings into a'design that celebrates the heritage
of the race track, and thereby revi tali zing the race
track in a respectful way that respects the hi stori c role
the track has had in this community since the '30's.
utilize great architecture, great design, great
lighting, water features, gardens and landscaping to make
it pleasing and a community attraction, and preserve the
pageantry of the track.
And most importantly is to mitigate the traffic
impacts and any other impacts wi thin our abi 1 i ty to
mitigate. we know when we come here today after a number
of years asking permission to do something in your good
city. And with that request also comes the obligation to
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us, which we fully embrace, to do the right thing by this
city, and to make sure that we do fully mitigate those
impacts.
I'd like to quickly go through a presentation
which I need my.glasses in order to read. I didn't need
them two years ago.
Santa Anita Park today has acres of unattractive
and underutilitized asphalt parking lots. Declining race
track attendance has resulted in declining revenue for
Arcadia. Since 190, the city revenues have declined 40
percent. Arcadia receives .33 percent share of on-track
handle and sales caps through the beverage sales at the
track. The surrounding grounds do not complement the
a~chitecture. and it is grand architecture that this
track has in the historic grandstands.
The southern parking lots, as George has
mentioned, are currently zoned for commercial
development. There is about 3.5 million square feet of
commercially-zoned: land adjacent to the race t~ack in the
southern area.
The race track today is one of the most
beautiful sites of any track that has been built in this
country. And it stands there majestically since the
1930's. One of the primary goals we have had, and the
directives by the owners and the management of the track,
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is to build a project that reintroduces the track to a
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new generation of people Who can enjoy it, and thereby.
enhancing its business.
over the past two years, we have participated in
more than 350 meetings with Arcadia city leaders,
residents, school officials and organizations. We've
hosted over 350 neighborhood meetings and get~together,
senior lunches, and meetings with track employees. we
have hosted tours on our existing properties for over
3,000 residents. we have administered a direct mail
program that resulted in more than 10,000 responses and
suggestions, and messages of support.
We opened an office in Arcadia to establish a
direct presence to the community, and we have been
available to the residents and the city leaders.
what's important in being out here for the last
two years is that we have listened and we have learned,
and the project today is a much better project than we
originally proposed, because it directly reflects the
comments and concerns and the wishes of the residents of
thi s communi ty .
Because of that, we scrapped an older EIR, and
developed an new EIR, to incorporate the feedback from
the community. As a result of those changes, again I
believe our project is better and reflects the wishes and
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desires of this community.
The important changes that are made is that
there is no residential element of any type in our
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project. we heard loud and clear from the community that
they did not want residential development. There is no
gambling, contrary to what some of the opponents are
saying, as George has said, gambling is regulated by
state law, and there is no expanded gambling in this
proposal at all, nor do we support it.
All the retail buildings are now limited to one
or two stories, 27 acres of asphalt is being removed and
converted to new landscape and open space, representing
over 30 percent of the entire project. There is not a
development. a retail development in the united States
that I'm aware of that has over 30 percent dedicated to
outdoor uses..
And included in that, there's a new park
adjacent .to the paddock. 22.000 square feet of office
space will be given to the Arcadia unified school. valued
at $22 million, at no cost to the school district. And
again, at no cost to the community, there will be an
indoor community performing arts theatre available free,
that will seat about 400 people. The next time we have a
pUblic debate such as this, hopefully it Will be inside
the community performing arts theatre.
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Tax revenue is important. We also, in addition
to wanting to support the race track and keep the race
track vjable and alive, we also believe it's important to
add. new revenue to the City of Arcadia. The shops at
Santa Ani ta wi 11 generate $2. 3 mill i on annua 11 y in tax
revenue, which will help pay for police, fire, libraries
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and park servi ces.
The shops at Santa Ani ta wi 11 generate an
additional 3.5 million annually in incremental property
tax revenue for the City of Arcadia and other agencies.
over the next 30 years, the Shops at santa Anita will
generate more than $171 million in new revenue to the
City of Arcadia and other agencies.
What's also important is that we want to provide
jobs. There will be over 1,000 temporary construction
jobs created during the height of .construction
activities, and 1300 new permanent jobs created upon
opening.
Our commitment to the community is that we will
provide a local avenue of basically a job bank and it
will allow local r.esidents to find job opportunities with
the project, including students of Arcadi.a.
Traffic improvements. Much has been discussed
about traffic, and traffic. is important. It's also
important to know that with Arcadia's development,
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traffic in cities and counties and .areas increase just by
the very nature of more people being on the roads. All
the traffic impacts associated with the shops at Santa
Anita will be fully mitigated within the City of Arcadia.
$10 million of traffic improvements at no cost
to the ci ty wi 11 be made by Caruso Affi liated. and that's
by contract with the city. There is a guarantee that's
provi ded by us to the ci ty. Thi s w:i 11 i ncl ude upgrading
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traffic signals, adding turn lanes, widening lanes, and
install i ng i ntelli gent traffi c systems.
of the 13 intersections impacted in the city,
seven will get better after mitigation than they are
today. The remaining intersections will be fully
compliant with city standards.
Revitalizing the race track. The shops will go
With the rich heritage of the park while enhancing the
track as a regional attraction and horse racing icon.
The shops at Santa Anita will be designed to complement
the track's architecture and respect its historical
si gni fi cance.
The shops at santa Anita will revitalize this
attraction by drawing a broader, younger audience who
will rediscover the track. Together. the track and the
Shops at santa Anita will provide an exciting destination
that ~ll enhance both the shopper and horse racing
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experience for visitors. And I do want to say that we
are proud to be partners with the race track and with
Magna corporation, and we appreciate all thei r assistance
~nd their design.
We are also very proud of the fact that the
~irefighters Association has endorsed our project. The
Shops at Santa Anita will add $2.2 million in revenue to
the city, giving the city more resources to pay for
things important to all of us, public safety, parks, the
15braries and better streets..
It Wi 11 allow the ci tyto increase fi refi ghter
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and paramedic staffing, assist the city in purchasing hew
equipment, and help us in responding to you. That's from
their president, John Twitche.
we also received an endorsement from the Arcadia
police officers Association, which we're very proud of.
"The Shops at Santa Anita contribute to keeping Arcadia
as a safe place for people to live and work," from thei r
President Troy Hernandez.
The Arcadia unified school bistrict has endorsed
the project, "The shops at Santa Arlita will be good for
all students and our community, this is a win-win for
all. " From James C. Romo, the presi dent of the school
board.
And the Arcadi.a chamber of Commerce has endorsed
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our project, noting, "The chamber beli.eves that the Shops
at Santa Ani ta wi 11 have an i mmedi ate, growing and 1 asi ng
positive impact on Arcadia commerce as a whole, and
wholeheartedly supports the project."
And the Rancho Santa Anita residents, the
homeowners association directly adjacent to the race
track also has endorsed the project by saying, "we
strongly believe that the only way to mitigate current
traffic is to modernize our traffic system, and Arcadia's
best hope for doing that is by bringing the shops at
Santa Anita to our community.;' From Kevin Tompkins, the
president.
The Santa Anita oaks ASsociation has also
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endorsed our project by saying that, "We believe that
Caruso Affiliated will build a quality, upscale project
worthy of calling Arcadia its home and that this
wonderful. development will be an asset to the city and
the residents for years to come." By Leona warden,
president.
As George just said, all the major horse racing
associations have endorsed this project, understanding
clearly how it will help the track. One thing to note is
that in working with the State of california, there have
been a lot of tracks that are closing, so the notion that
tracks will close is not just a theory. If you've been
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looking at northern california, that track is closing,
the track down here in Inglewood, that track has
announced a closure, and this will continue to go on
unless race tracks find other ways to attract people into
those stands.
The proposal for the shops at Santa Anita as
presented does in our opinion an excellent job of
integrating the historic architecture of the track, of
the park, the grandstand into the project, while
seemingly insuring that the racing operations are
protected and enhanced.
There is a very distant, and I apologize to the
crowd here, the plan that we had had a portion which
we're developing which sits on about 45, 48 acres, so
there's the original park, the saddling barns that are
currently here will be located off to the side, so it
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will be opened up so more people can enjoy the beautiful
architecture of these grandstands.
Through the center there's an open street,
similar to any main street that cities have, that's of a
scale in comparison that you're all aware, or most of you
are aware of, which is Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia, and
this is a street that just carries pedestrians. It looks
and feels like a street, but there is no cars allowed,
because we don't want to mix cars and people. we think
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it's dangerous. And the termination of it is a beautiful
water feature which is about three a half acres, with
restaurants adjacent so you can sit outsfde on a
wonderful Arcadia night, look at the water, and have a
great meal.
And then this whole asphalt section that's down
here.at the bottom of about 15 acres is now lawn as
you're going along Huntington Drive, this is how it is
comi ng through. And then on these great streets are
wonderful upscale shops, boutiques and restaurants, and
then looking. north, the cinema, and then there's a
parking structure tucked behind these buildings that is
not visible, for parking, along with a smaller parking
structure. here, and surface parking adjacent here. The
track then would maintain its parking to the east and to
the north.
This project .is a little bit over 800,000 square
feet. The allowable square footage under the
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commercially zoned portion of this property is a little
bit over 1.1 million, so we're clearly within the
intended commercial development on this site. this
project, like all of the projects that we have built, and
I would hope those who would happen ever to be at The
Grove or The Commons or The promenade, contact us and
have a chance to take a tour, just come on your own, is
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to build a beautiful, vibrant outdoor space, and the
common denominator being, if you want people to go there
just to hang out and enjoy themselves, to run into
family, run into friends, to enjoy this special lifestyle
that we have in this beautiful city of Arcadia, we know
strongly that there is a market demand for these stores,
we know strongly that there is restaurant demands for
these restaurants.
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The mall is a wonderful mall, our neighbors at
westfield, but they are different in terms of the
category that they're selling. And what's currently
happening in the city today, is an enormous amount of
your tax dollars are leaving the city of Arcadia.
They're going to,pasadena or they're going to Monrovia.
The upscale shopper is going either to the west side of
town, or believe it or not, all the way down to
southcoast Plaza. So one of the goals of our property is
to, meet that demand and keep the tax doll ars wi thi n your
own city that will actually benefit your city and support
the inf.rastructure of the city of Arcadia.
Next slide.
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I know what -- we can go back -- they're
flipping me a note. I'm getting little notes here.
An important traffic mitigation measure that
we've provided is this ring road, which takes traffic off
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the surrounding streets and puts them on the interior
project. And that's very important because that actually
does reduce the traffic flow on the perimeter of the
property.
This is the view today looking west from the
parking lot to the Westfield mall. If our plan is. a
approved, we witl have it look like this, overlooking the
three and a half acre lake, the great shops, overlooking
the lake and beautiful landscaping surrounding it.
The vi ew looki ng north, with the track in the
distance and the beautiful hills, i,f we have an
opportunity to develop this project, would look like
this, wi~h the great main street, with pedestrians
walking up and down, lined by great boutiques and shops
and restaurants and the track at the terminus.
The view looking northwest towards Clockers
Corner would turn into a view that would look like this.
That's the expanded paddock area that's about the size of
a footba11 field that we would be adding to it. with the
cinema and restaurants spilling OUt into it.
And the view looking northwest to the paddock
would end up looking like this. This is an outdoor
dining terrace on a second floor of a restaurant looking
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towards the track and the beautiful mountains, the main
street down below. We've been asked to incorporate a
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trolley. Trollies have become popular in our projects
and we're happy to do that.
And we think with this, what will end up
happening, is actually more people who live in the area
will actually enjoy the beauty of that track, go into the
track, watch the horses being saddled, watch the jockeys
getting ready and watch a race, which we think extends
and makes the shopping experience much more interesting.
Now, in conclusion, we're going to show you a
little tape, that I wanted to wrap up by thanking
everybody who has been involved in this process, the
thousands of people that we met with, the thousands of
people that have responded to our request to help us
desi gn thi s.
This project will fulfill the Arcadia general
plan goal of creating a SRAOEU SWRAPBT development with a
focus on being a communi ty gatheri ng place. It wi 11
replace a vast and unutilized parking lot. It will
increase the .property tax base of this property and help
the city of Arcadia. It will promote the development of
Arcadia as a place for people to shop and dine and
patronize local business and keep sales tax revenue
within the city of Arcadia. It will help revitalize the
track, which has seen its prominence in the community and
importance as a premier venue for thoroughbred racing
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diminish in attendance.
It will create a higher quality integrated open
ai r retai 1 center. It wi 11 provi de a community
performing arts venue. It will further connection with
the surrounding uses. It will contribute to the
modernization of the traffic system within Arcadia. It
will generate thousands of jobs. It will expand
opportunities for work and employment in Arcadia. It
will fund millions of dollars in infrastructure and will
provide needed space for Arcadia school district.
But most importantly, my commitment to you, the
resi dents, and to the 1 eaders of the ci ty, is that we
will work hard to build something that you're truly proud
of, that you feel like is part of your community, and
that you will enjoy with many generations for years to
come.
And with that, we're going to do a very quick
fly-through of a model that will help depict, in about
two minutes, the feeling of going through 'the shops at
Santa Anita.
So this is the expanded paddock area that you're
seeing in the dfstante. AS you' repulling back, backing
up down main street, is the existing paddock, the
expanded paddock area, fountain courts. We have a number
of fountain courts throughout the project. The main
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street, with the trolley running down the middle, is a
series of plazas, gardens, throughout the project, for
people to sit outside, read the newspaper, have a cup of
coffee and dine. All the materials on the project are
real. They're rich. They're brick. They're stone.
There's nothing I1hony or fake about it. And there's
places for people to gather, which is really our primary
focus.
We have a focus on safety in all of our
projects. If you talk to anybody in the communities that
we work and have projects, the local police departments
will verify that.
And our commitment to this city is long-term. I
don't sell our projects. we're going to own this for
many, many, many years, and we want to be a good neighbor
arid a supporter to the city and its residents.
Lush landscaping. Everything comes in mature
and fully grown. And we think that the outdoor space,
especially along the water, is going to provide a unique
and wonderful feature for people to enjoy during the day
or the evening.
I know that many people that are here, are here
from Arcadia Fi,rst, who for whatever reason are opposing
the project, and I would certainly welcome the
opportunity to meet with you and further discuss the
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project and discuss your concerns. Because I believe so
strongly that this meets all the goals of the city of
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Arcadia, that if you're open-minded, we can certainly
find ways to mitigate the concerns that you have. And I
think that when you really look at all the true facts,
that you will be a supporter of this project.
And I know many people have to leave that are
our supporters who are here tonight, and before you do
leave, I want to thank you for taking the time. You have
spent endless, endless hours, we've been in your living
rooms, we've been in restaurants with you, you've been on
tours, and I appreciate that, you have made this project
better.
And if I could just ask by a show of hands, the
people that are here, before you take off, who support
this project, I would certainty appreciate that.
Thank you very much. Appreciate you being here
tonight.
planning commission, thank you very much.
I would ask our supporters not to leave unless
you have to. I didn't want to encourage people to go
home.
Mr. Chai r, if there's any questi ons, I'd be more
than happy to try to answer them, or I have my staff here
who can certainly help me.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: could everyone please be
quiet and. sit down.
okay. Thank you.
Thank you Mr. . Caruso.
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Are there any questions of the applicant from
any of the commissioners?
okay.
MR. CARUSO: Great. Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: We have your presentation
and you'll have a chance for rebuttal at the end of the
pub 1 i c hearing.
okay. I think I have more than 90 cards. okay.
These area'l random. we'll start going through them.
You have three minutes. We do have the timer.
And .where is the light? I can see the light.
when it goes to red, your time is up and we will
cut you off at that point, unfortunately. But like I
said before, there's still another public hearing before
the city council and if you don't feel like you got
everything in that you wanted to say tonight, you can
still address a letter to the city and you can obviously
speak before the city council as well.
okay. The first person is Art Fry.
And then after that will be Robert Bartley.
If you'd come on up.
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Thank you.
MR. FRY: Gentlemen, my name is Art Fry and I
reside at 231 West camino Real. we've lived here since
1974, and. in the area since 1960.
You've been discussi ng traffi c hi story. AS a
resident, I remember the city police department here in
Arcadia handling the traffic from santa Anita when it was
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at its peak and we had many, many cars, and they handled
it just excellently.
I'm fascinated by the term good traffic for
Westfield and bad traffic for Caruso. I have seen good
drivers and bad drivers, but I've never had good and bad
shoppers.
In closing, Caruso is good for Arcadia. Many
cities would give anything to get a quality development
like this one proposed. I truly hope that Westfield
works with, not against, the caruso development.
Thank you for listening.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Mr. Fry.
The next speaker is Robert Bartley.
And after that will be Dave sweeney.
MR. BARTLEY: My name is Robert Bartley. We
live out on old Ranch Road. We moved here in 1964.
We've raised two sons in the local schools here.
And we aren't planning on moving anywhere. We
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want to stay here. I don't like to drive as much as I
used to and we hate to go to Pasadena and other places to
do our shopping. This looks like the project that we
want. We find that it would be really comfortable, it
would be enjoyable. I won't have to drive so 'far out.
We think this is really good for Arcadia. It
wi 11 bring in revenue and probably have people sti ck
around here more, and also bring in other people that
have the money like us. We're the gray panthers now,
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we're retired, arid'we have the time to go shopping and
visiting.
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I really appreciate the project and the
presentation here and look forward to seeing this come to
face. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Mr. Bartley.
Mr. Sweeney.
And after that it will be Bruce McCallum.
MR. SWEENEY: Thank you very much, Mr. chairman
and other members of this commission.
My name is Dave Sweeney and I have lived in
Arcadia for over 40 years, with the only exception being
a couple of years that I moved out of state to run a
company. I have six children. All were raised and
schooled right here in Arcadia. several of them still
live here. In other words, this is home to me.
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Thank you, Mr. chairman, we appreciate this
opportunity to speak.
I am disturbed by What I see and what I hear
concerning this project before you, and I am concerned
about what is happening to our great city. This campaign
to stop the shops at Santa Anita, I feel, has gone way,
way too far. A commercial enterprise, Westfield Mall,
certainly has the right to protect its business
interests ,but not to denigrate city officials and
el ected offi ci a ls, offi ceho 1 ders.
The tacti.csthat we see being used are those
coming from a front. group which so nobly is called
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Arcadia First; is nothing more than tactics that are used
in political campaigns when one side has nothing
constructive to offer, so they denigrate their opponents,
sowing seeds of doubt about our elected officials,
pitting neighbor against neighbor, using dishonest and
deceptive advertising to lance their opponent, when all
the time the real culprit that provides all the. money and
the personnel is Westfield Mall.
All of us in this room are proud of Arcadia and.
certainly the services that we have. We have one of the
finest fire departments and police departments, and
probably one of the largest for a city this size. And
this has come about not because we just wanted it, but
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this came about because when the race track was really
booming and the revenues that came in, when they were
averaging many more thousands patrons per day, that's how
we received thi s fi ne servi ce.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Mr. sweeney.
MR. SWEENEY: Yes.
COMMISSION OLSON: You're past your 3-minute
time. If you'd like to submit your speech to us and for
the public record, we'd accept that.
MR. SWEENEY: I don't think so. I would like to,
wrap it up with just a very short --
COMMISSIONER OLSON: No, we can't.
The next person ;s Mr. Mccallum.
And after that would be priscilla Shively.
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MR. MCCALLUM: I have a complaint, if I may,
registered up front. The gentleman by the name of Rick
caruso kind of preempted most all of my comments here,
and I'd like him to be duly reprimanded for that.
Just a couple of real quick items here. The
EIR, folks, Caruso had one significant connection with
that EIR: He paid for it. That was his sole
contribution. okay. That was an issue mandated by the
state.
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He mentioned having several hundred meetings in
the city. I was in several of those myself. We're going
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to have the significant contribution to our school
district here. We're going to have the performing arts
theater. And I'd like to ask what other business entity
in the state -- pardon me, in the city -- has done
anything. anything similarly comparable. I don't think
we're going to find a one. okay.
we notice that we have -- we've received a lot
of endorsements from a lot of associations here in the
city. I just wonder what influence this foreign-owned
company is going to have on our own Arcadia city here.
In closing, let me just say that my wife Joanne
and I fully support this development. We've worked hard
for it. We will continue to work hard for it. And like
the gentleman before me, we really, really resent our
mailboxes, our front doors getting all of this inaccurate
propaganda sent to us. It's an insult to us.
COMMISSIONER OLsON: please, hold the applause,
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please. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Mccallum.
Mrs. shively.
And after that will be Don Robison.
MS. SHIVELY: My name is priscilla shively and I
live at 426 East camino Real. My husband and I have
lived here for 38 years.
we have never seen one of the Caruso projects,
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so we decided one sunday to take a ride to The Grove. As
we entered the shopping area, we were immediately struck
by the sight of how family-oriented it was. Families
were walking together. Families were sitting by the
water. Families were riding the trolley. You did see
teens, but ,they were in groups of two or three and they
were not the predominant group. It was the family Unit
that was predominant. And for a couple in our age group
that had decided to come out and enjoy the beautiful day,
the outdoor setting, the low background music. the free
trolley ride, the quality shops and restaurants, all
added up to a delightful sunday outing.
westfield has a nice shopping center for the
people it serves, which to me seems to be the younger
generation. when you visit the mall on weekends you see
throngs of young people shopping and socializing.
Westfield is indeed serving this group, but I left the
mall yea'rs ago, as I did not find stores that fit my
taste. I am deli ghtedthat the shops we wi 11 bui 1t to
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better serve this other group of shoppers to which I
belong.
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After our visit to The Grove, my husband and I
became full supporters of the Caruso project. Mr. Caruso
is a man of integrity that will build a top quality
project that will serve the community well. He supported
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our city by removing the housing component of his plan,
providing 40 years of free school district office space
and theaters for school district performances, in
addition to spending millions on upgrading for traffic
signals around the project area. It's a testament to his
commitment to work with the residents. There is room for
both the Westfield and the Caruso projects. The
competition will create a positive outcome for all in the
community.
There is no need for all the negative mailings
that come to our home. It is pathetic how westfield is
taking the low road and bombarding us with misinformation
about what is going to happen to the Santa Anita grounds.
The rant on the traffic is just hypocritical. Westfield
will be extending their mall, so how can their additional
traffic !:Ie acceptable while the Caruso traffic is called
congestion? HOW insane is this argument?
People in. the city might have been fooled once
by deceptive Westfield tactics, but we will not be fooled
again. we applaud Caruso as an ambassador for the city
rather than the approach of Westfield as an antagonist.
I hope the city adopts the Caruso project for .the good of
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all Arcadi a.
Thank you for your time.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Mrs. shively.
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The next speaker is Don Robinson.
And then after that wi 11 be Emily pi erce at 436
Fairview No. 25.
MR. ROBINSON: Thank you, Mr. chairman, and
members of the planning commission.
My name is Don Robinson. My wife and I Laverne
have 1 ived in Arcadi a for 46 years. We rai sed three
children in the Arcadia school district;
And Mr. Rick Caruso stole my speech here, so I'm
not going to reiterate everything he said, but I would
like to just mention a few highlights that I think's
important.
Every~ody here in this room wants what is best
for Arcadia or they wouldn't be here tonight. I do feel
that the shops at Arcadia will be good for Arcadia. We
came to Arcadia 46 years ago because we wanted our
children to go in good schools. That's still a big
drawing factor. And what they're doing for the high
school by increasing the availability of classrooms and.
making a good central location for administration, I
think is admirable, and costly. Increased tax revenue,
.2.2 million; sales tax, 2.3; tax revenue of three
mi l1ion.
Increased parking facilities. We don't really
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like to go to westfield as much, especially on a Friday
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or saturday, because you have to go up and down looking
for a place to park. We like some of the things there.
And I really think competition will be good for everybody
in Arcadi a.
over the last, just week, we've received, you
know, things in our door, in our mail. six of them right
here. T09aywe received one professional monthly update
from the shops at Santa Anita. What's in here
Mr. caruso mentioned true facts in the EIR and the
updated EIR.. What's in here is innuendos talking about
more gambling, more traffic, more housing. It's not
going to be more housing. That was stated earlier. It's
not gOing to be more gambling. And traffic will be
updated and miti gated in such a way that it wi 11 be
handled more efficiently.
Also, the security -- we visited all the caruso
sites, and what we saw, we liked. security there is
good; There's a lot of burden on the police department
right now and they're handling it very well, but this
wi 11 i ncreasethe available securi ty at the shops at
Santa Anita.
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so I hope it can go through as quickly as
possible. Thank. you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON:
The next speaker is
Thank you, Mr.
Emily Beersman.
Robinson.
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And after that will be Di.rk Hudson.
Emily not here?
Is Dirk here, then?
okay. And after that will be Nassef Eskander,
76 pamela Road.
MR. HUDSON: Mr. Chairman and commissioners, as
Arcadia residents who live just north of the race track,
we ask prompt consideration and approval of the
above-referenced project.
We have toured Caruso projects at Commons
callabasas and The Grove, and came back deeply impressed.
our concern for Arcadi a both, one, tha~ Arcadi a', s
heri tage and hi stori crace track be preserved; and two ,.
that as part of its future heri~age, Arcadia not miss out
in the benefi t of havi ng its own Caruso proj ect.
The latter concern is not only for the sake of
preserving the economic viability of Santa Anita, but
equally for the demonstrated beauty and styles that the
Caruso landscaping and architecture will bring to our
community in its own right. This will be a vast
improvement over today's empty parking lot and the
unobstructed views and trashy looking east side of the
Westfi.el d Mall.
What then are the benefits of the project to
Arcadia? As we see it, they are .sevenfold.
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There's the need to preserve the santa Anita
race track. westfield has offered no alternative plan
for doing this and something will have to be done.
second, there's a proven attractiveness of
Caruso projects already in existence, which is available
simply for the looking.
Third, tax revenue from the proj ect. wi 11 help
support the schools and vital services, including police,
fire, and ambulance protection, as well as providing for
traffic mitigation.
Fourth, the addition of the open-air mall will
provide a wide spectrum of goods and services with
greater competition for the consumer dollar. After all,
we all are consumers, and this all will be in a safe
envi ronment.
Fifth, the project will have an auditorium,
performing arts center for use for schools or community
events. Thi swill fi 11 a si gni fi cant gap in communi ty
life. It would also provide, free of charge, offices for
the Arcadia school district.
sixth, the project will be designed so as to
complement the track and be consistent with its use and
architecture. Horses being brought out for racing events
and perhaps even offer ri des on horse'"drawn carriages.
seventh, the project will also complement
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Westfield by providing an attractive open-air counterpart
to the westfield Mall and by allowing for the exchange of
visitors so that e.ach mall's customers could become those
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of the other. The success of food courts in malls, as
well as jewelry and garment districts in cities such as
LOS Angeles, proves that competitors may prosper from
proximity to one another, by getting consumers interested
in a greater variety of chojces. whereas the
shortsighted micro perspective, seeing westfield and
Santa Ani,tapark as competing with each other, the larger
macro view envisions the combination of the two malls as
nearing distant customers who might otherwise have gone
to another locale, such as the Glendale Galleria or
Paseo.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Mr. Hudson" your time is
up. I'm ,sorry.
MR. HUDSON: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
The next speaker is M,r. Nassef Eskander.
And then after that is craig Smith.
MR. ESKANDER: My name is Nassef Eskander, 76
West pamela Road.
And very briefly, the horse racing track was a
fine art of sports, and this was in the '40s, '50s, '60s.
And the capacity of the race track is 26.000 seat. If
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these 26,000 is full today, I don't know what would be
the traffic, but as we know, the average attending of the
race track is 9,000, and the maximum is 15,000, doesn't
reach that amount, which mean that we have a setting off
between 17,000 spectators and 11,000 spectators. That
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can show the mitigation of the traffic in the area. It's
already happened to the area. That's number one.
Number two. westfi e ld, when they are proposi ng
their project, I stand in front of the planning
commission and I was against westfield development. NOW,
nobody in this audience knows that Westfield has an
approved plan from the planning commission, forwarded to
the city council's approval, for an additional hundred
thousand square feet of commercial. This has been
adopted by your commission and was forwarded to the city
council for approval.
The type of commercial coming from westfield is
not the type of Caruso. Caruso is targeting a special
audience. It's not targeting what Westfield is looking
for. Now becomes a focal point, getting people from all
around the, cities. The people targeting is not the one
we are looking for in the city of Arcadia and everybody
knows about that.
I am supporting the project. I was against the
project at certain times. And after thorough
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investigation on my part, I feel really supporting that
project. It. is a really good project for Arcadia.
And last, not least, I don't like to see so many
mai 1 s. Inaddi ti on to you are bei ng pai'd money by some
concerted in order to sway your voting, and I don't like
that. we are not third world country. We are here in
America.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
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Mr. Smith.
And after that we have Gino Roncelli.
MR. SMITH: MY message is very brief. I got the
information from the Arcadia First and it affirmed that
it would be a vote of the people of Arcadia regarding
this before the plans are put in motion. And I think
that would be useful because the people should decide
which way it's going.
personally, I'm opposed to. it, but that's part
of the game. And I think we all need to have a say on
whether this happens or not.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank.you.
Mr. Roncelli.
And then after that, Nicky Hunter.
MR. RONCELLI: Good evening. I'm Gino Roncelli,
1250 Ramona Road, Arcadia, resident of 39 years.
I also am fairly angry at all the mail t've been
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getting. There's a lot of innuendos. I'm really happy
we have this meeting tonight to clarify a lot of the
issues. The staff here at the city has clarified a lot
of it about the housing, about traffic, about gambling
machines, that they're not going to have them. so I
think this meeting.was a really good idea to clarify a
lot of those issues.
I've also been out to the caruso project. Thank
you, Mr. Caruso, for inviting me out. I really think it
would be a great asset for our city to have it here. It
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would be really nice that my 'wife doesn't have to drive
allover southern california to shop.
I would also ask for approval. The other thing
I would like to ask, I'm hoping you'll agree with this,
is that we fast-track this. It would be really great for
our city to get this done quickly. I'd like to ask that
the first thing we do is to put the traffic issues behind
us and get those signals all fixed first and then get on
with the project. so I'd just like to have that happen
first, if we could do that. Thank you.
COMMISSION OLSON: Thank you, Mr. Roncelli.
Next is Nicky Hunter.
And then after that would be cathy Hundshamer at
301 santa Rosa Road.
MS. HUNTER: Gentlemen, I'm Nicky Hunter. I
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live at 120 West Sycamore Avenue.
I've followed both sides of the discussion with
interest for the last two years or more. I've read all
the opposing arguments, which basically seem to boil down
now to just two things: Traffic issues.
Let's be clear. Traffic would be generated by
both the third extension of the westfield Mall and the
'Caruso development., Accordi ng to Arcadi a Fi rst, the
caruso development, and puzzlingly only Caruso, will
generate millions of extra' cars. HOW can that be?
presumably because the Caruso project will be so much
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better than the westfield one, that billions of people
Will want to come and enjoy it. Otherwise, why aren't
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they coming now.
Caruso's project is obviously going to be
wonderful. And caruso is contributing ten million
dollars to easing traffic. What a pity that westfield's
contribution towards the traffic easement is just
millions of dollars wasted on misrepresentation.
Then we come to gambling. we 11, I thi nk you
yourselves and Mr. caruso himself has sufficiently
knocked that on the head. There will be no extra
gambli ng in the man. There wi 11 be no extra gamb 1 i ng in
the race track. It's clear.
so as far as I'm concerned, the benefits from
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Caruso, however, a~e compound. we've got extra revenue,
a wonderful town center, upscale shopping, 'and a
beautiful and impressive way to dine outdoors facing our
historic landmark, enabling everyone to savor and
experience it. We don't have any of these benefits
currently, and Westfield can't provide them either. The
alternative is not nothing, it would be some other type
of commercial venture with considerably less appeal.
So gentlemen, opportunity is there on a plate,
please grab it while you can.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: The next speaker -- and if
you want to say your name, because I didn't quite get it
right, I think.
But after that will be Robert Holmes.
Go ahead.
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MS. HUNDSHAMER: Thank you, gentlemen. My name
is cathy Hundshamer. I live at 301 Santa Rosa Road. My
husband and I have been residents of Arcadia for the past
23 years. We've raised our daughters here in the public
school system.
we live in an area that's referred to as the
gardens area, and what that really means is we're
directly across the street from this project. In
addition, I work about two blocks away from where we
live. so I'm affected both with work and at home.
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1 And we've studied the project. We've listened
2 to all that's been said. We've been to the community
meetings. How can I follow the lady that was before me
other than to say. ditto, and thank you Mr. Caruso for
bringing us the opportunity.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
Mr. Holmes.
And after that will be Patty wang-Dion.
MR. HOLMES: I'm Robert Holmes. I live at
1015 Arcadia Avenue, and I've lived in Arcadia for more
than 30 years.
when the shops at Santa Anita were first
proposed I was somewhat dubious about what value it would
have to the city of Arcadia. .But as the process moved
along and I've learned more about the shops at Santa
Anita, I became more interested. And I was also very
impressed by Mr. Caruso's ;meeting all of the complaints
that were raised and improving his project in the
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process.
I think it would be a great loss to the city of
Arcadia if this project were not built and I hope to see
it built as soon as possible. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
okay. we have Patty wang-Dion.
And then after that will be Mary Dougherty.
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MS. WANG-DION: Mr. chairman, commiss.ioners of
the Arcadia city Planning commission, my name is Patty
wang-Dion. I live on catalpa Road, My husband .and I
have been residents of Arcadia for over 20 years and have
lived in the Arcadia/pasadena/san Gabriel area for over
30 years.
And during this time we've seen the population
grow significantly with all the associated issues of
growth. Mainly increase in housing, both single and
multi-unit residences, multi-family homes; increase in
school age children; increase in safety, security and
crime issues, not only in the home, but in the community
setting; increase in retailers With the growth of the
mall from Fashion Square to Westfield. Allimpi!.cting the
increased growth of traffic that we see today.
we have seen less traffic from the race track
over the years due to the conveniences of off-site
betting and have seen the underutilization of the massive
parking areas in this beautiful and historic landmark in
the city of Arcadia.
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I'm here to express my support of the Caruso
project, the shops at santa Anita. I'm not going to go
reiterate and state that which has already been conveyed
regarding the plusses of this project with regards to the
Arcadia school district, the community performing arts
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center, the increase in the tax revenues, the quality
retailers, restaurants and entertainment experience, but
I want to express to those who are in opposition, or who
are undecided about the project, to make an informed
decisi on in deci di ng on thi s worthwhi 1 e qual i ty venue.
It is our responsibility in making a well
informed decision to take a look at all the pros and
cons. And, of course, one of the biggest concerns is
traffic and that's already been discussed.
caruso will be spending over ten million dollars
in trying to mitigate the identified intersections for
our traffic situation. And with this, even without the
shops, the traffic will continue to increase, and we as
residents will end up having to address this issue by
eventual taxes..
So this is our opportunity to say yes to the
shops at Santa Anita, who will address many of our
critical traffic issues being encountered and be able to
get a quality venue that will contribute value to our
community and to the city of Arcadia, as well as help
enrich and revitalize the race track. We cannot afford
to let this project slip away. Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
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Mary Dougherty.
And then after that will be. colleen Brennan.
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MS. DOUGHERTY: My name is Mary Dougherty. I
live at 1110 Rodeo Road. I've lived in Arcadia since
1971 and I served on the school board for 16 years, from
1985 to 2001.
I'm a proud supporter of the shops at Santa
Anita and I'm very grateful for the management of the
race track to bring in a quality developer that proposes
a project of which we .can be proud. I think that the
office space that. is provided for the Arcadia school
district is invaluable and it provides the opportunity
for the further expansion at the high school.
Traffic, I think, is the biggest concern of this
project, and I think that the planning commission and
city ought to be very concerned that westfield has not
.fol1owed through on the required mitigations for thei r
previous approvals. And I hope that you will establish a
cooperative relationship and require cooperation between
the caruso project and the westfield project i.n
addressing those traffic needs.
I fully support the idea that housing has been
totally eliminated from this project and I commend
Mr. caruso and his staff for listening to the community
and seeing to it that housing would have no part of this
community -- I mean of this project. Thank you so very
much.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Mrs. Dougherty.
Next is colleen Brennan.
Then after that will be Roberta Beaumont.
MS. BRENNAN: Mr. chairperson, commissioners, I
strongly believe that the great positive benefits of the
caruso/Magna proposed project has been about the best
thing in the over 45 years I've lived in Arcadia that
I've seen proposed.
Some of the people that still believe that some
of the problems that have been addressed, and I feel
successfully taken care of by Mr. caruso, I feel that
I don't know why that I keep getting misinformation
through the mail like a lot of people that spoke before
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And also, in closing, I'd like to say that we
can surely use a good auditorium. Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
Okay. Roberta Beaumont is next.
And then after that will be Rebecca Ruiz.
MS. BEAUMONT: Hi. I'm Roberta Beaumont. I
live at 901 panorama Drive.
I had the opportunity to work in the Hollywood
area and have frequented The Grove many, many times. I
love the opportunity to go shopping at Farmer's Market,
and also go shopping at Banana Republic.
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But on a separate level, I have two small
children, and two years ago I came home and I told my
husband, we've got to go to The Grove to see the
Christmas tree. I said we want to go to The Grove, it's
there on the other side of the world, I said we've got to
go there, it's just beautiful. So we went in the car, we
spent the whole eveni ng there., it was absol ute 1 y
spectacular.
I love the idea that we can be a family and
enjoy a lot of wonderful things that Caruso brings to the
table. I am in very much support of this project and I
hope that you will vote to place it in our city because
it's a great opportunity for us.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
Rebecca Ruiz.
And after that will be Christopher Horn.
MS. RUIZ: I'm Rebecca Ruiz and I live in the
lower Rancho. I have an eight-year-old daughter who is
in the Arcadia school district.
You've heard community support for this project
from the police department, fire department, homeowners
associations, and many, many residents. so how did this
come about? Well, there's a chinese proverb, and it
says: Tell me, and I'll forget. show me, and I may
remember. Involve me, and I'll understand.
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And I think that caruso's approach from day one
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has been community involvement. These community service
organizations, the fire. the police, school, they've
taken the time to become involved through his process.
And why would he do that? I think there are three
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One, because we'll feel more ownership towards
the project and that will make it a success.
Two, we understand the project, so we can
disregard all of those gross misrepresentations that
westfield has. made, and Arcadia First.
And three, I think he's showing us that he will
be a good neighbor by listening.
So of all these benefits that the project
brings, I also think there is an ancillary benefit, and
that would be., let's reinvigorate the race track, make
sure they are a big contributor just as the mall is,
westfield. And let's then introduce a third dynamic,
which is Caruso, to put a stop this corporate bully
Westfield. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Mix the cards up.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yeah, mix the cards up.
COMMISSIONER KRUCKEBERG: The cards are in the
order that we received them.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: please be quiet.
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Christopher Horn.
And the next speaker will be Eleanor Allen.
MR. HORN: Good evening. My name is Christopher
Horn. I live at 5 south old Ranch Road. I've lived in
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the area my entire life, grown up in the area, have lived
in the same home for 30 years, learned how to drive on
the race track parking lot. I believe that's why they
closed it. But my business is in Monterey Park and I
currently serve as a chai rman of the Economic Development
Commission for the city of Monterey Park.
I've followed this fairly closely for a number
of years now, and opportunities like this are few and far
between. This project is very well thought out.
Mr. Caruso made an offer of having any questions
resolved. so when I got a flier in the mail offering a
free meal, I quickly took advantage of it went out and
saw The Grove, and all our questions were answered, all
our concerns were addressed, and my wife and I were very
impressed with The Grove and the operation in general.
It's first class.
Cities in the san Gabriel valley and all of
southern california would be proud to have a project like
this. I just strongly suggest that you pass this as
quickly as possible. My wife and I both agree and I hope
that the majority of the residents in Arcadia agree also.
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Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
The next speaker is Eleanor Allen.
And then after that will be Jolly Wu.
okay. Eleanor Allen is not here, then we'll go
to Jolly wu.
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And after Ms. wu we'll have Betty Hettrick.
MS. WU: I just received a phone call yesterday
from my fri end. Hi s ki d has a reason that he's not doing
well at his school. The mother told me that's because on
the way to the school they got stuck in the traffic. And
also, he told. them, too much carbon monoxide. So the kid
use it as an excuse now, say that he cannot do well at
the school.
I've been in the city for seven years. The
traffic has just really increased a lot. I used to get
off at Baldwin Avenue and drive like 007, you know, fast
and speed up. And I look around how many people
currently Mr. caruso bring into the city. I think their
size must be huge, bigger than the air bus that just
landed at. LAX. So much traffic.
However, I do believe our first lady, Laura
Bush, said it, whatever happen in Las vegas will stay in
Las Vegas. So whatever happen in the future at Santa
Anita race track or westfield Mall should stay over
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there. So r have three suggestions for it.
Number one, I would like city suggest Cal-Tran
to extend the off-ramp of the Baldwin off-ramp, one side
goes right directly into this project and the Westfield
Mall. So whatever happen over there, stay over there,
have a great day of the shopping and pay your tax in the
city of Arcadia, good-bye, sayonara. okay.
And second suggestion is, I would like to invite
Mr. wong pick up hiS dining tab from the Arcadia with all
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the traffic that Westfield Mall currently created. And I
would like him also learn from Mr. caruso, adopt the
signal light change, so maybe our city can gratefully,
whichever intersection that Mr. caruso adopt, will put
his sign on i.t, Mr. wong adopt, put Westfield Mall
crossing, so we would appreciate, when we pass each
intersection and we see the current -- which we call a
smart signal light, we appreciate.
And the third suggestion is, in the future
development of the city, each residential square feet
your addition or any commercial you're going to build, I
propose a $10 traffic upgrade fee or whatever you want to
call it. All right. That's it. Bye-bye.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Ms. Wu.
All right. Betty Hettrick.
And after that will be Jennifer Jeng.
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MS. HETTRICK: Hello. I'm Betty Hettrick,
67 East Arthur Avenue.
I work in the Arcadia Unified school District
office. We would greatly appreciate having a newer and
larger office space to work in to help better the
services we are providing to all the students of Arcadia.
I wholeheartedly support this. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
Jennifer Jeng.
And then after that will be Sam Jeng.
MS. JENG: commissioners, residents, good
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evening. Excuse my attire. I came from the gym after
two slices of pizza, four cookies. I think I need to go
back to the gym.
But I wanted to come back out today to talk
~ecause I think I believe -- I believe I represent two
demographics. I'm an urban professional locally here and
I'm from the Asian community. I believe that this is a
good project because, being 27 and working in operations
management, I have a lot of urban professional friends
that I hang out with after work and we end up having
absolutely nothing to do here in Arcadia. I end up
taking my money and my business to pasadena, specifically
old Town pasadena. And I would love, being a resident
here for around seven years, I would love for that, money
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to stay here in Arcadia.
second, I am an ASian American, I'm a chinese
American here,' and I know that the city of Arcadia has
become more integrated. we're a diverse community. I
think the Astan community is growing. And I love that
the caruso project has integrated certain elements of
Asian deSign into their property. I believe that that
speaks to their connection with the community here. I
think that they are definitely giving a nod to all the
residents here in Arcadia.
I strongly support this project and I urge you
consider all these facts. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
The next speaker is Sam Jeng.
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And then after that will be Tony Hendrich.
MR. JENG: Because of my language barrier, I
need it translated by my daughter.
MS. JENG: My dad wants to say that he
represents the ASian community. He's an older member of
the Asian community. He's here to represent the Asian
community. The older ASian community. And he believes
that that constituency is approximately 50 percent here
in this neighborhood.
My son is in washington, D.C. and he calls home
frequently. Every time he calls back he wants an update
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about the Caruso project. He wants to know when it's
going to be approved. And he's saying that when he comes
home, he sees his friends, all of his friends always ask
him to meet in Monrovia, in pasadena, in Santa Monica, in
the shopping areas outside of Arcadia.
I wonder why Arcadia First has given the
negative publicity to this project and I wonder why they
speak about the falsehoods regarding the traffic and the
environmental factors. And I wonder why -- and the crime
rate. And I wonder why they don't use their resources,
their financial resources particularly, to help Caruso in
the efforts to improve Arcadia. And perhaps there might
be a good competition between what they can do and what
Caru'so can do.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: His time is up, but do you
think you could quickly translate, because we don't know
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MS. JENG: Sure.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Quickly.
MS. JENG: He wants to urge the committee to
consider the type of personality that the Westfield
project has undertaken. The sly, underhanded maneuvers
speaks to the type of things that we don't want to have
here in Arcadia. And for that reason, and perhaps that
reason alone, take Caruso up on their offer and
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three years from now we hope to have a great neighborhood
and make Arcadia better.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Ms. Jeng. Thank
YOur father.
we're going to take a break now. We need a
five-minute break.
(proceedings adjourned from 9:08 to 9:14 p.m.)
COMMISSIONER OLSON: During the break we di d
shuffle all the cards.
Tony Hendrich will be next. I've already called
his name. And then just totally at random everybody has
shuffled the cards, like a playing deck here. So we'll
see how that works.
Mr. Hendrich.
And then after that will be Ed Casey.
MR. HENpRICH: Good evening. My name is Tony
Hendrich. I live at 403 North Altura Road in Arcadia.
My wife cathy and I have lived in Arcadia for over
30 years. our children are graduates of Arcadia.
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I am past president of the homeowners
association. I'm currently architectural review board
chai rman for the Rancho Resi dents ASsoci ati on. we.' re
about 850 homes that surround the race track on the north
and to the northwest.
speaking for myself, I very much support the
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caruso project for a great many reasons.
First, we want to save santa Anita race track.
It is the historic crown jewel of Arcadia. It is known
throughout the United States for its class and quality.
It's by far the best race track in America.
Caruso offers the best solution to help us save
our track. Caruso offers the best solution for this
property. MOre important, Caruso is not building another
mall. He is building a plaza for Arcadia. Caruso offers
Arcadia a downtown, finally. Caruso offers a place where
families and friends can gather and enjoy open space,
outside dining and shops. Caruso has prove this quality
in all of his. projects.
I was glad to hear tonight that there is no
expanded gambling, no expanded betting machines, no new
machines, no slots, and no new housing.
I think the Caruso project complements the
Westfield Mall. I think the Caruso project will give us
a wonderful downtown, performing arts theater, and more
revenues. I recommend approval of the project. Thank
you.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
Next is Mr. Ed Casey.
And after that will be Anthony Leung.
MR. CASEY: Good evening, members of the
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2 Westfield tonight. And we did submit a very short
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letter, as Jason mentioned tonight, to you, commenting on
some aspects of the final EIR.
However, for all the people who have not yet
spoken about the project, I will not review all the
points in my letter. Instead, I will just limit. my
remarks to one issue, and that issue is this:
We urge you, we urge you, to provide time for
everybody involved, whether members of the public or
yourselves, to take the necessary time to review all the
documents concerning this project.
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The final EIR for this project was released just
12 days ago, and the final EIR is more than just this one
thick binder in my hand. That alone would be difficult
to read in 12 days. The final EIR is six of these
binders. And that's in addition to the draft EIR, which
is another si x bi nders.
It takes time to review, read and understand all
these documents. It takes time to review all the
technical analyses in the recently released final EIR,
including new technical analyses released for the first
time tonight. It takes time to review all the answers to
the 900 plus comments in this final EIR that were
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submitted by all the citizens of your city. And it even
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takes time to go through your staff report, which is a
couple inches thick.
And if that was just enough to read and
understand about this project, tonight your staff
released for the first time, some additional documents,
about another inch thick, that I'm sure not all the
public has had time to read or understand. And these are
documents that talk about important changes to the design
of the project; documents that talk about new
environmental analyses.
And thi s is just not techni'ca 1 j argon that's in
this document released tonight for the fir.st time. They
talk about important changes to the project, including
changes to the height of the parking garage that would
now raise certain parts of the garage to 65 feet in
height, blocking out the entire grandstand up to the
rooftop.
So I urge you, please, now is not the time to
rush to judgment. Now is not the time to rush through
all this testimony from this community about this
important project, pushing that testimony i.nto the late
hours of tonight. And now is not the time to rush
through all the analysis that it would take for your
staff and the public and you to truly understand what's
in these documents.
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So we urge you, do not close the hearing, as you
said you would do at the beginning of this meeting.
please continue this hearing on this important project so
we all have some more time. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
Anthony Leung.
And. then after that will be Debbie Beveridge.
MR. LEUNG: Good evening, chairman and members
of the board.
My children are from Arcadia school district and
I recognize a lot of friends over here, the ex-athletic
chairman. and I recognize a lot friends over here. The
ex-elected chairman and some of the people here. I
strongly suggest, please consider Mary's suggestion, be
very careful to consider the traffic condition. And I
really have some reservation about why the need to widen
the road surface. There's no space to do in the lane,
it's all I can say. Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Debbie Beveridge, and after
that will be Nick chang.
MS. BEVERIDGE: Good evening, gentlemen, I'm
here. on behalf in favor of the project. I live at 301
Mage 11 an Road i I've 1 i ved there for approxi mate 1 y
12 years. And more to the point this evening, I worked
in the construction real estate lending division
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providing construction financing for almost 25 years.
Rick. Caruso and Garuso Affiliated provides some of the
finest products and projects around. They always live up
to their word, they always provide what you see is what
you get, what he promises to do he does, he will do it.
Also, I come here tonight to speak on behalf of
the race track, I'm actually one of the few people who
goes to the race track. I have gone there since I was a
little girl, I was there with my father, I bring my
children. when I used to go with my dad, there were a
lot of people there. I go there now and it's me and
about ten other people there, and I think it's very sad.
And if you don't think that race track can be closed and
torn down, think again, that's exactly what happened to
Hollywood Park or is going to happen to Hollywood Park,
and it's happening all across the state. It would be a
tragedy to lose that race track. we need to revitalize
it. Rick Caruso's project does' that.
Finally, I concur with the gentleman who said
let's fast track it. Let's face it, even if you approve
it tonight, if everybody approved it, it's going to go to
a vote to the city and the faster we get there, the
faster it wi 11 be reso 1 lied and it wi 11 stop bri nging up
the contentions and everything else. It's going to go to
a vote. Let's just go ahead, get it approved and keep
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moving forward.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. A Nick Kavic,
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please. And after that it's Michael Hung. Then after
that, okay, it's a tough one. Carmin Kalbraino, at 46
oxford. okay. Nick Kavic.
MR. KAVID: Here I am.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Good. Go up to the front
of the line.
MR. KAVIC: Nick Kavic, 2827 Holly Avenue. I've
lived in Arcadia for 47 years, and as a person with an
interest in thi s ci ty, I've owned race horses wi th my
brothers. I've done many different things. The thing
that upsets me the most is, we're looking at this project
in not so much the way the people who originally set up
this city. The city was a residential community. we
didn't have a lot of places to do shopping and
businesses. It used to be the Hinshaw block on Baldwin
and Duarte, and then they drove -- which I was opposed
to, Fashion Plaza.
And then it became a mess. And then now
Westfield has got it and I was under the impression when
it was built that it wasn't to be expanded. And as I
understand it, now I guess they're going to be expanding
it again. I'm all in favor of money going from Mr.
Caruso's venture to help the city out. But earlier this
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evening some lady mentioned about the $22 million
facility for the administration for the high school. And
she said for forty years.
And is that a leasehold? Are we going to have a
building that will be gone in 40 years, so the kids that
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graduate next year will have a 40-year reunion and there
will be no administration building? Some of these
questions need to be answered. And I'm all i.n favor of'
making more money. I do general contracting, I'd be more
than happy to be building part of this thing myself. But
pessimistically, I want to find out all the answers. And
I agree with the gentleman even though he might have been
representing 'westfield, which I don't feel that we need
camaraderie with. I think that we should take our time
and keep asking the questions, you know, cross all the Ts
and dot all the Is.
We have the duty to the population of this city
and the growth of this city to make sure that we don't
put something in there that will turn out to be main
street Disneyland and everybody will be coming from other
parts of the ci ti es like Duarte and Monrovi a and even
Pasadena to come visit Arcadia, leave their debris and
pollution and not ever do anything good with our city.
so anyway, that's my thought. I hope you will
take into consideration and don't make any fast judgments
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tonight. We have plenty of time. Rick has waited two
years patiently, I believe that he has good intentions.
he's turned around and eliminated the housing. He's
made, you know, substantial suggestions to the traffic
problem. But we still should ask more questions. Thank
you very much.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. The next is
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David phung, it's p-h-u-n-g. And then after that will be
william MCKinley, and then after that will be louis
Bri eri ng.
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MR. PHUNG: Good evening, Mr. Chairman and
members of the commission, I'd like to address my
comments first as sayi ng I'm not a member of Arcadi a
Fi rst. I am not a busi,ness owner in the Westfield Mall
or associated with westfield whatsoever. However, my
platform is that I do object against the shops at santa
Anita.
I think I've seen what happened with the
expansion of the Westfield mall, with the building of the
AMC Theater and Dave & Busters. And last year I read in
the paper that the Temple City gang members stabbed one
another right in front of the AMC Theater.
And quite frankly, I'm against any project that
would add pollution,air pollution, that is, traffic and
crime into our city. And that includes the Westfield
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proposal that you've already approved, apparently.
But first and foremost for my personal feeling
is air pollution. Not much has been discussed this
evening about that, and I know that there's been a lot of
talk about propaganda from westfield and how the numbers
don't really add up.
well, there's one thing that's undisputed in my
opinion in reading all the literature including the EIR,
is that ther,e is zero mi ti gati on for ai r 'pollution. And
I don't think we can do anything about air pollution.
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One important item in the EIR that I saw was 7.8
tons of smog pollution would be put into the Arcadia city
per month. According to the Air Quaiity Management
District, current Arcadia air quality is worse than that
of downtown l.A., and that's before the project is going
to be built. And we can talk all day about how many cars
are going to come in, millions or thousands, I don't
know. But there's going to be more cars. And the air
quality is already pretty bad according to the Air
Quality Management District.
And I know the Shops at Santa Anita will bring
in a lot of tax revenues and we -- we all want that for
our ci ty. But at what cost? To me, I'm not wi llin9 to
put my health at risk. my child's health at risk. my
parents who are in their seventies and eighties at risk.
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And I speak toni,ght on behalf of those ki ds and
the elderly and those that can't speak for themselves,
and kids with asthma, or an elderly person with emphysema
who are ,driving around oxygen tanks, how they are already
suffering from the bad air quality trapped by the
foothills. so for that reason I'm very much against the
Shops at Santa Anita.
As far as traffic is concerned, agai n, there's a
lot of numbers being thrown out. I'm completely puzzled
at this point exactly what that number is. Right now,
what I' d li ke to fi nd out fo r myself is the defi ni tion of
mitigate, because a lot of terms have been thrown out
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quite a bit. So I looked up the term in the
Merri am-Webster di cti onary and "mi ti gate" is defi ned
according to webster, to cause to become less harsh or to
make less severe. It's very important to note --
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18 so I'm going to have to ask you to end.
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MR. PHUNG: Just one more statement?
COMMISSIONER OLSON: I'm sorry. That's all.
MR. PHUNG: okay. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER 'OLSON: Mr. MCKinley.
piease, I've asked for no applauding.
(Inaudible female voice in audience.)
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Ma'am, please. okay.
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1 wi lliam McKi n 1 ey' shere?
2 louis Bryman?
3 Chri sti ne Ho?
4 We should call more breaks, obviously.
5 Mark Bower?
6 Are you Christine? Okay. Thank you.
7 MS. HO: Good evening. My name is Christine Ho
8 and I've lived in Arcadia for 12 years. I attended
9 longley Elementary School, Dana Middle school and the
10 Arcadia High school.
11 Growing up I thought Arcadia was a boring place
12 because there was never anything to do. There weren't
13 any 'theaters and there WilS no cool mall to hang out at.
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After attending college and I'm now working full time, I
realized Arcadia was not a boring place. Arcadia has a
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great sense of community and family values and I feel
safe here.
I'm lucky to have been raised here and to live
here. And I believe the proposed Caruso development
would destroy those values. on a recent trip to the
westfield Mall I saw graffiti on the Westfield Santa
Anita signs as I entered the parking lot near
Nordstrom's. I was heartbroken to see people would
destroy Arcadia property.
On another trip to the Westfield Mall, upon
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leaving the movie theater around 10:00 p.m., I was
heartbroken again as I saw empty beer and liquor bottles
and cigarette butts in the drains in the parking lot. I
couldn't believe that anybody would want to make Arcadia
an ugly place. I truly believe that the problem of
littering and drinking and loitering would only ,be
exacerbated by the Caruso development.
If deli nquents wi 11 destroy mall si gns, what
will stop them from destroying street signs, cars and our
homes? What will become of Arcadi.a and its safe streets
when beer bottles and cans, and groups of delinquents are
walking our streets. I worry that I, a single woman,
cannot safely visit the mall or walk around my
neighborhood alone.
I urge this commission to stop looking at the
development with dollar signs in its eyes. The sense of
security Arcadia has built and maintained is absolutely
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priceless. Do not destroy decades of hard w()rk by
citizens to keep Arcadia a safe place for a few million
doll ars.
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In a few years, when you look back at this
decision, how will this commission wish to be remembered?
As a commission that was generally concerned with its
residents' issues and maintain and improve the quality of
life? Or will it be remembered as the commission that
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turned a blind eye, saw the project through rose~colored
glasses, and turned Arcadia into a polluted, dirty and
dilapidated city? Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
okay. It's Mark Bower and then after that will
be Marc Greenfield, and then pam olender after that.
MR. BOWER: Mark Bower, resident of Arcadia.
I=irst, .1 am going to sign up for the first meeting with
Mr. Caruso. I'm color-blind, so when he's running this
thing around the chart I see nothing, and I didn't have
the. advantage of being able to trace where he went on
this chart.
I have favorite topics, first one is traffic
draws, my definition. I am concerned whether the
planning commission is looking at increases in traffic in
Arcadia from a total traffic perspective, that is, from
what 'I understand is called "accumulative traffic
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perspective."
We have what I call five major in-draws for
traffic, that is heavy commercialization that brings
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persons outside our community into the community to do
business. The five are the Westfield expansion, the
Caruso project, 24-hour Fitness will eventually make it a
goal line. Again, we have the possibility of a mega
center auto mall on two of our city blocks from the heart
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of downtown Arcadia if Measure 8 is not passed. A mega
center would become a significantly increased draw to
that part of the ci ty. ,Is traffi c from all of these
draws in consideration, and are future draws in
consideration when. discussing the Caruso impact on
traffic?
second one I ask is a question: One: Is there
a critical threshold that is not bei'ng considered? Is it
possible that the smart signals, as they are introduced,
will work to a given level and fall under this term
mitigation or efficiency that we hear, and then just a
little bit more traffic wjll cause a breakdown of
intended traffic flow?
And lastly, the concept of mitigation. I have
no doubt that smart signals will move traffic more
efficiently. For instance, my example would be three
cars pass in in synchronized or unsynchronized signals,
and you have SO cars where it's unsynchronized, you have
traffic problems. Now you synchronize and all 50 cars
will pass through the signal okay. But you've lost
quality of life, you've increased noise, and you've
increased pollution.
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My own personal example is that I go to lake
Avenue almost every sunday for coffee. We go early and
to avoid traffic because we go by bicycle. It starts out
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quiet, I'm hard of hearing, I don't have a problem. But
around 10:00 o'clock or so when church gets out, the
noise level goes up. There's not a problem passing
traffic going down south on lake, but the quality is
reduced because I no longer can hear, so as you have more
cars, even if they're passing, we get into the same song,
of course, of pollution, noise and so forth. But I think
that's something you should consider.
So just because it's more efficient, and I wrote
down what somebody said earlier. Just because in some
things you're more efficient doesn't mean inherently that
we haven't affected our quality of life, it's just simply
more cars,. And I don't have this written, but I'm just
going to beseech that you really think about this total
traffic picture and we're not missing something, and it
may come downstream five and ten years and we find that
the smart signals don't do the trick.
They certainly do the trick under certain
circumstances, because I've seen it happen, but I'm
afraid of what would happen if they ever become
overburdened. I think that will do it. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Now, next is Marc
Greenfield. And again then after that will be Pam
olender and then Alex --' Alexis, excuse me, Alexis Marie
Proctor.
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MR. GREENFIELD: GoOd evening, my name is Marc
Greenfield, I live at 217 Magellan Road, Arcadia. I've
been an Arcadia resident for only seven years, a lot of'
people here with 47 years and some people with more.
After seven years, I've been here for quite a while, I
feel. And I fully am in support of Caruso's project.
I live approximately a mile from the facility
and from what I've read and studied and heard, I don't
think traffic is going to be a problem which in my mind
originally was the first major problem. with all due
traffic mitigation, I don't see any problems with the
traffic and I think it would be a great asset fo.r the
City of Arcadia. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
Next is Pam olender. Thank you.
MS. OLENDER: Good evening, my name is Pamela
olender, I live at 1000 Coronado. My family has been a
resident of Arcadia for 46 years, and I'm also president
of the Santa Anita Village Homeowners ASsociation. I
want to begin by thanking Rick caruso and all of caruso
Affiliated for being such a classy organization. I also
want to thank Caruso Affiliated for bringing to Arcadia
what could have been by other developers' standards an
ordinary project, and instead creating an extraordinary
project. Caruso Affiliated has ultimately not only met
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my expectations, but exceeded them. so this project, in
thi s project thei r willi ngness what wi 11 be shared by
westfield, Caruso, increase in traffic.
Their generosity affording the high school the
much needed space for additional classrooms and the new
administrative school district office space shows their
thoughtful commitment to our community. I encourage the
planning commission to recommend approval of this project
to the city council. Thank you for your time.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
Alexis Marie Proctor and then after that a Ron
Morrison.
MS. PROCTOR: Hi, my name is Alexis Marie
Proctor and I've lived in the city of Arcadia for over 40
years. Caruso said he is for the horseman. caruso says
he represents santa Anita race track. If that was
remotely true, where in the shops within the park
proposal is the facility that is going to benefit the
horseman? I don't see a place that teaches me to be a
veterinarian, I don't see a place that teaches me to be a
blacksmith. I don't see a place that teaches me where to
learn to ride a horse. I don't see anything like that.
I do not see a discount tack shop or even a
wholesale feed store. If a horseman wants to buy a bale
of alfalfa at the rate that it costs about $26 a bale,
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the closest feed store to the horseman is by or at the
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race track, it's 15 miles away. It costs $15 a bale.
You may not think this is a big impact on our city, but
it is. let me explain how.
The City of Arcadia has made a revenue of over
multi-million dollars per year from the race track. They
depend on it for income. If you take that away, that's
how the city's flourished. without this multi-million
income, our city would not have flourished as we have in
past 50 years. All the different venues that the race
track provides in the state of California. they employ
over 40,000 people per year.
when you hear the announcement on TV advertising
about the races at .Santa Anita, do you ever understand
why John Henry is coming to town, one street
(incomprehensible). No, that's because you have to put
back into where you have you have your treasury income.
YOU do~'t have the cushion of the race track, the
stabling of the horses, all there is is beer commercials,
you get your free mug. There's nothing anymore about the
races coming, that's because the city has turned its back
on the race track.
This has been dependable income. why risk it on
another mall? If the mall can't even survive, the
stores, why do you think the leases continue to have to
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keep changing over? They can't even survive now. What
are you going to do with this second mall?
caruso -- caruso isn't buying this land. He has
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a 40-year lease. What are you going to do in 40 years
when the lease is up and the aces in his hand and you've
turned your back on the race track.
what are you going to do? Are you going to have
a mall wi th vacant bui 1 di ngs. That's not going to hel p
anybody. You're setting him up to have the upper hand.
YOU should put your money back into the race track. For
SO years you've been depending on the race track, and the
race track has been good to you. So why would you turn
your back on the horseman now?
The way they're talking at Santa Anita is you're
taking away the saddling paddock, okay? YoU think the
horsemen are going to pay for that? what are you going
to do when they boycott? It's not union back there.
That man has to go to the bank, he had to depend on the
revenue of the mutuel handle for the bank collateral.
What are you going to do when the horsemen do a
saddling boycott? No horses show up, that's the --
mutue1s of that day and his loans collapse. what are you
going to do when his collateral falls apart? Have you
ever thought about that? The race track. the horsemen
would not put up with that. I work there. I've worked
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there over for 30 years. Trust me, they will not put up
with that. The reason, you take that paddock away --
COMMISSIONER OLSON: MS. proctor, your time is
up.
MS. PROCTOR: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
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Next is Ron Morrison, and after that will be
scott sayre at 444 West Huntington.
MR. MORRISON: I'm 'Ron Morrison. I have lived
in thi s area si nce 1941. I've been a continued resi dent
in this area, either I or my family, a continued
residency since '41.
I just seen a study by USA that tracked 3,600
children for 13 years, and found that living within 500
yards of a highway faced risk of permanent health damage
including stunted limb growth and respiratory problems.
we are a city of 50,000 people. We are considering a
project that wi 11 bri hg into our ci ty more than one
mi 11 i on cars a month. These cars wi 11 be spi Hi ng out
into all of our adjacent streets of our city.
The traffic analysis submitted by Mr. Caruso to
the city of l.A. for the group -- for the growth estimate
of traffic, underestimates traffic by 55 percent and the
Caruso mall is actually 60 percent by growth.
It has been sai d, if you have a good thi ng, you
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basically don't try to change it and we in Arcadia
certainly have a good thing. You can, in fact, have too
much of a good thing. Too much food. TOO much spending.
Too many buildings.
Arcadia and the surrounding area now represent a
fully developed area. There are many schools within a
short distance of this project. ~e're speaking about
thousands and thousands of children. Drive anywhere in
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the city and it says that we are a city that is
financially sound, and we're all (incomprehensible). It
appears that sometimes we forget that this country is the
ri chest country in the history of the worl d.
Do we need more money? No. Do we want more
money? Yes. We always want more money. Butwanti ng
more money in this case comes With an unacceptable,
unacceptable trade-off. What we need to do is make the
best possible use of the money we have and if need be,
tighten our belts a notch or two.
My parents did it for me. Your parents did it
for y~u. Can we do no less for our children? Our
children grace us with their presence, can we do no less
than grace them With our presence? Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Mr. Morrison.
Scott Sayre and then after that W111 be Amber Young and
then it will be phyllis Nimly.
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MR. SAYRE: Hi, I'm Scott sayre, 444 West
Huntington Drive. I guess tonight we're supposed to be
revi ewing archi tectura 1 desi gn revi ew and desi gn
guidelines and development agreement, so I'm going to try
to speak to some of those things.
I'm generally in favor of the project, but I've
always had problems with. the actual design of the site
plan. If the caruso folks from the beginning have been
tried to link it to the grandstand which I think it's a
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mistake. I've always felt that the project should be
linked ~th the mall to try and create some sort of
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synergistic relationship and try to have the two projects
support it each. And the plan that I just gave is an
example, it doesn't have to be exactly like that, but
there's an example of how that can be accomplished.
There is a very obvious east/west access, or
axis I should say, that will lend itself to linking the
two projects together. And there's a number of ways that
could be done with the tram running from the grandstand
over at least to the property line of the mall. Anyway,
so I think you can see it from the picture how that would
work. Another thing'I have a problem with is that the
lake is on the south side and it never made any sense to
me. It seems to me the lake should be on the north side
where you would have a chance to have reflection of the
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historic buildings in the lake. ,AS you can see on the
drawi ng, by movi ng the proj ect south, away from the
grandstand, it allows you to retain a historic view where
you can actually have a real view corridor and be far
enough back to see the entire building. It w111 allow
the chance to create a 'real roadway from Huntington, kind
ofa like a back way across to Baldwin, which might
improve the traffic flows at Baldwin and Huntington and
some of the other intersections.
Anyway, so that's the idea of the plan. I have
a few other items, too, that I'd like to get on the
record. I don't know how it's been covered but I just
looked through the guidelines real quickly, but, ,I didn't
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see anything particularly about exterior lighting or
order of -- or hours of operation or how late those
lights would be on. .It is proposing some pretty tall
structures. I saw a 65 or the flag poles went up to 85.
It would be nice if those lights could it be
turned off at a reasonable hour. I don't thi.nk this
place is going to have any businesses that are open, at:
least I hope not. Anyway, so they can have a condition
to keep the lighting turned down for our residences
directly ac~oss the street.
let's see. Again, linking the properties, it
would be nice if it would possible to take the fence
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down. Westfield is trying to get approval on its own
proj~ct. let's make it a condition that they have to
create reciprocal access with this one and we have them
both create reciprocal access with conditions of
approval.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Mr. Sayre.
MR. SAYRE: Yes.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: I have to cut you off,
you're past your 3-minute ti me li mi t. but we've taken
your comments and I appreciate it and if you've got
anything you'd like to give us else that's written you
down, we can take that into public record.
MR. SAYRE: Yeah. I'd love to, but I don't have
enough time usually.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: I understand it. Thank
4ft
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MR. SAYRE: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Next is Amber Young.
okay. Then phyllis Nimly.
How about Janice Gallant? It's getting easier.
patri ck larki n and after that are wi l' be Scott
Hettrick and Sonia Williams.
MR. lARKIN: Good evening, folks, I'm here
speaking as a third of four generations of a family that
has owned property and lived in Arcadia. I've had a
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residence in Arcadia for vi rtually all my life. Most of
the comments in support of Mr. caruso have already been
addressed thi s eveni ng, so I wi 11 1 i mit mi ne.
Many people have voiced a concern about the
impact of Mr. Caruso's development on family and our
youth. A number of residents are worried about the.
negative effect of Mr. Caruso's development. I have, as
I said been in Arcadi a vi rtua 11 y all my life. I went to
grammar school across the street at Holy Angels, spent a
lot of time at the race track duri.ng these years because
I liked the horses, and went through this experience with
no apparent or no real negative effects.
Further, there's an old Maxum that says "Young
people go out, old people stay home." And we're not
going to stop kids from going out, but wouldn't it be
better to invite them with a site ,close to home, one
which we as adults could accompany them to. one that is
clean. supervised secure, wholesome and provides the
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environment that Mr. Caruso offers.
In response to the lady who spoke a few moments'
ago about being heartbroken over the signs of graffiti
and drinking and gang violence at the Westfield Mall.
I'd simply .remind everyone obviously that is the
westfield Mall and I know that Mr. Caruso has a very
strong but unobtrusive security force that would
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eliminate any of these concerns.
Finally, I'd like to say, I've eliminated most
of what I'd like to say. But first, there have been a
lot of gambling metaphors and analogies, but we as
residents of Arcadia have just won the lottery.
Mr. Caruso does not build his concepts everywhere, he's
very, very careful in choosing the sites where he
reali~es his concepts of all the millions of sites that
he could have placed this development, he chose Arcadia
and all the opposition is literally looking a gift horse
in the mouth, which is a height of rudeness and also none
intelligence.
And we're also arguing with him, they are I
should say that, we hold the winning ticket with the
winning numbers. As I said before, something, sometime
and soon has to be done with that broad expanse of land,
asphalt, tar, sand and --
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Mr. larkin
MR. LARKIN: -- if it's not Mr. caruso, then who
would it be?
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Next speaker,
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Scott Hettrick. After that is sonia Williams and then
John --
MR. HETTRICK: Hi, my name is Scott Hettrick and
I'm a 16-year resident of Arcadia. I'm one the founding
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members of Arcadia wins which is a group of Arcadia,
residents interested in preserving the past and improving
the future of Arcadia without spending millions of
dollars stuffing mailboxes, newspapers and door knobs
full of ads trying to scare you into taking a position.
We support Caruso Affiliated's proposed plans
and development as the best way to preserve the vitality
of historic Santa Anita racing -- santa Anita Park race
track and significantly improve the use of that vast and.
largely empty asphalt. parking lot while providing great
benefits to the school district and the community
overall. We would like to ask the planning Commission
and Arcadia residents to not only consider the big
picture of this project, but also try to learn from our
own lessons of history here in Arcadia.
Having recently had the pleasure to listen to
some. presentations by Carol libby at the historical
museum and to read some centennial publications of
Arcadia by Core Media and the Anthology of perspective by
dozens of local residences in Arcadia, by our new citizen
of the year, Jerry cosa, it struck me how nearly every
major development in this city including the mall has
been strongly resisted by some local residents along the
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way, many of whom are clearly here tonight speaking in
opposition with this development as well.
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Even the creation of the city itself in 1903 was
opposed by neighboring towns using some of the
fear-mongering words in their resolutions and protests as
we see regarding this project a 104 years later. Those
earlier on predicted Arcadia nothing more than, quote, "A
gambling and booze pleasure park."
Those that oppose the project are worried about
extra cars in town. In 1934, the population of Arcadia
was only about 7,000 people and those first years the
tracks drew crowds of as many as 70,000 people. That was
ten times the city's entire population. Can you imagine
tryi ng to get a race track approved in Arcadi a today wi th
the gambling of horse betting. And yet Santa Anita Park
is now considered a treasured historic icon and even the
centerpiece of the city.
The term (inaudible) park was initially called
the Santa Anita Fashion Park weren't around when the mall
was proposed in the early 1970s, so they may not be aware
of the strong oppositions who had been by local
residents. Many here tonight clearly remember there was
going to be so much additional traffic that Baldwin
Avenue had to be widened. This was the peak of air
pollution in Arcadia and in Southern California.
TWo lawsuits were brought to try to stop the
mall from being built. Also, the lawsuits were settled.
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the mall was opened in 1975 and is now considered a vital
part of Arcadia. There are precious few moments every
three and four decades during which Arcadians can make a
decision that will have a significant positive impact f'or
generations to come.
while we encourage others to spread their
concerns and make sure city leaders like the planning
commissioners and caruso Affiliated satisfactorily
addresses the issues, let's make sure that the next
chapter is written on the history of Arcadia that we are
not embarrassed to tell our grandchildren that we lived
among those that had thoughts and begun to develop ~th
the future landmark
SPECTATOR: Quiet down.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: I don't need to hear any
comments from the audience, please.
okay. The next speaker will be sonia wiiliams.
MS. WIllIAMS: Good evening.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: And then John -- it's at
118 Ilene way. GO ahead.
MS. WIllIAMS: Good evening, everyone, my name
is Sonia Williams and I've been a resident of Arcadia for
22 years and I feel very proud and fortunate to have
lived here. I ask you to consider the long-term effects
of your decisions for this proposal for the Santa Anita
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race track. The repercussions will be so
self-destructing and lost of all aspects of Arcadian
life. If you recommend this proposal you will be letting
down the community and creating a snowball effect for
quick approval by the Arcadia city council.
I know the Pasadena city council as of last week
are still mulling over plans for a portion of the former
Ambassador college campus housi ng development. Thi s
complex plan for the remaining 20 acres of their bigger
47-acre plan as been ongoing for the city residents, the
developer and the owner of Ambassador Auditorium for
eight years. A consensus of agreement has almost been
reached.
We're only lnto the second year of this present
huge race. track shopping proposal. we're talking about
our last 304 acres of spectacular open land left in
Arcadia. Thi s cannot be a rush or rash deci si on for the
city when so much is at stake. This present development
has given us its rather complex proposal that cannot be
mitigated, suffice to say, it has divided the city.
Good planning and both compatibility,
comp 1 i mentary usage, .and ci ty consi derati ons. Thi s
proposal calls for specific plan, general plan amendment,
zone change, obscurity changes, this historical context
of the race track, damages and continued economic
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viability of the race track brings more gambling, adds
another shopping center and completely overloads our
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infrastructure, it is not viable.
I do not want Arcadia to go from a past city of
homes to a ci ty of mura l.s. There has to be bi gger and
better ,proposal for this property in which all Arcadians
and all of the city can work out a more equitable and
better decision. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
Next speaker is John -- 118 Eileen Drive. I
made it easier. I di.dn't have to try to resay that name
again. Paul Papuette at 2016 Canyon Road, Arcadia. Paul
Papuette then after that will be lula Eskander and then
sung Tse.
MR. PAPUETTE: Good evening, my name is paul
Papuette, as you mentioned, I live at 2016 canyon Road.
I am a member with the executive committee of Arcadia
First. I've spoken here before. I don't know anybody
from Westfield. In the 3-minute time period' I cannot
address obviously all of the issues. I'm not going to
have time to talk about how this proposed plan changes
the general plan of the city in order to open the doors
for 450 new houses on this property because we're told
that housing is not part of the project.
I'm not going to have time to talk about how the
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race track presently is the highest generating, revenue
generating race track in the nation. I'm not going to be
able to talk about how a traffic plan doesn't dedicate
one additional foot of right~of-way is some how going to
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cure our traffic woes and account for another million
cars a month.
What I did come to talk about very briefly is
the role is that I think gambling will play in this new
development as you know, Caruso has a partner in this
venture call Magna Entertainment. Magna has over the
past several years been truly a global effort to expand
and gather at all of its facilities including the .santa
Anita race track. We know they have five million dollars
to the proposition back in 2004 in an effort to get 3000
slot machines into the race track.
we know that in their annual reports they
constantly tout how their well positioned to expand their
gambling in all of the facilities. It has been mentioned
earlier that there's this 98 thousand square foot, what's
,called the simulcast center. It's actually a casino.
We're now told that no expanded gambling in the area,
that's because the current drawi ng a l' ows for 47 Horse
wizards" whereas the prior drawing had hundreds of them
in there. I don't know that folks understand them,
you've approved this as it is --
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: Mr. Papuette.
MR. PAPUETIE: -- and tomorrow, you don't have
any say as Arcadians in what activities go on in this
place. That place will fall under the jurisdiction of
the state authoriti es., They wi 11 put that i j, the control
of the appropriate commissions.
Another thing that I think is extremely
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objectionable about the layout here, is that under the
guise of the caruso life-style center mantra, we're
essentially going to walk our shoppers to the gambling
along with their children. so I think it's a bad idea.
I think the entire project should be slashed. I think we
should reject it or we'll see you at the polls. Thank
you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: sir, your time is up.
lula Eskander, please.
MS. ESKANDER: Hi. My name is lula Eskander and
I live at 1826 Anita Crest Drive. I've been in Arcadia
for -- in Arcadia for 14 years. As a Arcadia residents,
looking at pollution. traffic, noise, services to be met
by the police and the fire that's in the EIR report
versus what? Versus money? We really need the money. I
notice that Arcadia is one the richest cities in
california. So what happened? Mr. Caruso is looking
here in Arcadia it build this project. It's not because
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of the quality of life in Arcadia because he wants more
money in his pocket.
Am I right or wrong? He didn't choose Arcadia
just to improve our family life quality. NO. He chooses
for the money. okay. What guaranty, you know, Members
and the city council, that no more residential
improvement on the land or no more, you know. gambling.
I know that he scratched it, but what guaranty in the
future? Do you have any guaranty? It's starting by a
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hundred thousand square feet, it ended by eight hundred
thousand square, another hundred for the Westfield. Do
we need over nine hundred square feet commercial, just
commercial? Do we need it?
please answer those questions because you,come
to a conclusion of say "yes" or "nay" on this project.
If Mr. caruso is providing ten million dollars for the
traffic, okay, what is he requesting to have more w9der
lanes and wider turns where? There is three lanes' on
Huntington on this side and there is no much lane. where
he's going to impr,ove those more lanes and the traffic.
Can you answer me, please? can anybody answer
those questions? The school district, they have for the
40~year lease. what about after the 40 years? What will
happen? Our administration in Arcadia will not have
offices or they will be forced to have to pay, you know,
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the time after 40 years, the lease at that time. we need
to think about that. We need more answers, please.
Regarding the mail. I'm receiving also caruso
mails, you know, solicitating for the shops it come over
and get it. So I am not wi th thi s. I am not wi th that.
All I'm saying is please consider, have more answers
before you can vote and, make a decision on that. let the
residents decide, that's where we live, that's our
decision to make.
YOU know, looking at the traffic in Huntington
Drive in the evening time and the weekend, it's horrible,
horrible. And it will become more horrible. please
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answer the questi ons. Make a solid deci si on. Read those
twelve folders. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Okay. Thank you.
okay. Next speaker, Sung Tse, and then after
that Will be Craig Thompson and then Carmen Tibet.
MR. TSE: Yes, Mr. chairman, excuse my voice,
and members of the committee. My name is Steve Tse, I
live at 1145 West sunland Avenue. My Wife and I have
1 i ved in Arcadi a for over 45 years. Arcadi a is 1 i ke our
hometown. we want to see good things and quality
development come to Arcadia and we believe the Shops at
santa Anita is a qua}ity development. I'm not taking
anything away from westfield. Westfield is also a good
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developer, but, Arcadia can certainly accommodate two
quality developers.
I think people object to the project for various
reasons. One of is the primary reason is, people don't
li ke changes ,because changes wi 11 bri ng out uncertai nty.
So the easy thing to do is not to do anything and
maintain the status quo. ~ut progress comes from
changes, stagnation comes from status quo. Arcadia Wants
progress not stagnation, so let us go on with the project
and the sooner the better. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
MR. THOMPSON: GOod evening, gentlemen, my name
is crai g Thompson, I li ve at 1622 01 d oak lane in
Arcadia, of course. It seems as' if there is a desire on
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the part of some to change Arcadia from a community of
homes into a city of mega malls and traffic jams. Many
of us do not want or need this.
First, I have read the caruso traffic specialist
suggestions on how to fix is the problem of large
increase of cars expected to prevent excessive traffic
with an ongoing nature. This solution seems to be just
to add traffic compute red controls at traffic lights at
most of the intersections. That's not enough. I've also
heard a retired traffic control expert from l.A. county
who stated that the major traffic problem can't be fixed
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widened. sorry. They are as wide as they can get now.
There is no way to stop traffic jams with the anticipated
influx of too many more cars.
Next: Another expert stated that there is not
enough parking plan to facilitate this anticipated
influx. So where do they go? onto adjacent city streets
that are already overloaded from outside cars coming in
on a regular basis. Just what we needed, too many cars
with no places to go.
And next, and very importantly: What about the
critical nature of police or EMT vehicles not being able
to respond to 911 calls on a prompt fashion due to
traffic delays. We are in north Arcadia and the closest
fi re department with EMT personnel is located at
Huntington and Baldwin intersection. I would not like
any delays if my wife experienced a stroke or a heart
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attack. I think most of you would agree with me.
on an aesthetic note: The idea of the main face
of the race track being covered from sight by a bunch of
buildings that were on the south parking lot would be
very sad for a major landmark that has been in Arcadia
for years.
Finally, I spent 40 years in international
marketing as a career and the major part of my ability
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'was the understanding that to be successful either in
proposals or sales, you must give people what they need,
not what you want them to have. Those of us who love
~his town do not need what someone from the outside waryts
us to have. Thank you, gentlemen.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Okay. Thank you. Carmen
Alford, 1215 Oak One Road.
Victor Depaula, 322 Fairview.
And Kevin Norton. After that will be Gary
parker and then DOC Holiday.
MR. NORTON: I can"t beli.eve they finally called
my name. Good afternoon, commissioners, my name is Kevin
Norton. I'm here with the electricians union. we 'also
have eight thousand members in the construction industry.
we also have workers at the race track. We feel to
ensure a good future for these workers and the ensure
them at large, this project has to move forward. 'The
developers insured us the project will be built with
union labor and will provide a friendship opportunities
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for local unions in the city and good wages.
And finally, this is a beautiful design that
complements the race track and will help ensure the
viability for the foreseeable future. This project
should move forward with the electricians full support.
Thank you.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Next is Gary
Parker.
MR. PARKER: My name is Gary parker, I live at
297 Marengo and ,I will make this brief. I'm in favor of
this project. A few fellows talked about opening up this
area and I've also in favor of the jobs that will be
created. I feel those are a good things. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. okay. Doc
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Holiday.
Francisco Alvarado.
Steve Carter? Frank sotis, s-o-t-i-s.
Christine Ho, we've already heard from her, if
I'm correct.
Peter Jackson and after that will be lee shuman
and then Wilma Johnson.
MR. JACKSON: My name is peter Jackson, I live
at 482 long lane. I was going to talk primarily about my
earlier associati.on with Caruso. I grew up two blocks
south of where the Grove is and my dad's business, rest
hissou1. It was two blocks, and when it was instituted
we had all kinds of fears about what was going to happen,
what was traffic going to be like, what property value,
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what kind of people would frequent it, what his business
would happen. Our fears were completely without
justification. Even the traffic, because he was that
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close to traffic, the Farmers Market on Fairfax and
,Thi rd, one of the worse intersections I've ever had the
displeasure of having to go through. But once the Grove
went, despite the increased traffic it became tolerable,
not a great intersection.
So I don't know how Caruso managed to improve
the traffic situation,I'm just a dumb pediatrician. r
don't know about traffic flow, I don"t know about that
ki nd of stuff. But they di d it and I'm wi Hi ng to look
at it and said, Hey, somehow they found the solution. I
can't understand it, I used to drive blocks out of the
way to avoid that intersection, but it improved.
On another note, on a personal level, I grew up,
my first 18 years -- 23 years now here, but 18 years I
grew up and the Farmers Market was a place ,I spent many a
misspent afternoon. I bought my first Isaac Asimov book
and they had a book. rack there. Ate my first cup of
jambalaya at the gumbo pot. I spent too many afternoons
gobbling Bob's doughnuts. My waistline reflects that.
It was a special place for me. And when I heard
about some big organization taking over the farmers
market and changing it, I was fearful that those
childhood memories were going to disappear, that the
feeling of the market was going to be gone. Thanks to
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Mr. Caruso and design of -- or whoever deserves it. He
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deserves it. when I went there some years after the
Grove was put in, it was a new place virtually, it was
cleaner. Got run down for a while, but the integrity of
the place was kept much the same. I obviously support
getting the Caruso project going.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Wilma Johnson.
And then Jeff Bowen.
MR. BOWEN: Hi, My name is Jeff and lived in
Arcadia for 57 years; and obviously over those 57 years
I've seen a lot of changes and most of them good, and I
just know as George Haines spoke earlier that something
is going to go in that privately owned piece of property,
and we've been lucky, enough to be presented with the best
possible alternative bar none with the Caruso project,
and I just urge you to get to first base quickly before I
get too old to enjoy it. let's get it done.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Mr. Bowen.
IS it laurel latchet? Not here? okay. Then go
to lorrie Thompson? And after Miss Thompson will be Beth
Castanzas and salem Bang.
MS. THOMSON: Good evening, Chairman and
commissioners. My name is lorrie Thomson, and I live at
229 South Altura Road in Arcadia where I served as ARB
Chair of the santa Anita Village. Tonight, however, I
speak for myself. The naysayers to the Caruso project
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suggest that Arcadia is not equal to having such a
magnificent project in our midsts. The evidence or
factor or truth can be found in the EIR, the fire, and
police department research,the water authority research,
even the applicant's proposal contains the truth.
Thi s research shows that the, naysayers' thi nking
is faulty. As a science educator, I would give an "F" to
the naysayers scientific abilities. The truth supports
that Arcadia is completely capable of supporting and
reaping the results of the wonderful caruso Project. I
urge a unanimous yes vote, and as a senior citizen make
it timely. Thank you.
MR. OLSON: Thank you. Miss Castanzas, please..
SPECTATOR: You. mentioned my name, but?
COMMISSIONER OLSON: oh, I'm sorry. And you
are?
MR. SIMMONS': lee Simmons. I'm past president
of the Chamber of Commerce. I've been a resident of
Arcadia for 31 years. We've resided at 1014 West
Fairview Avenue, and I love Arcadia, and I always have.
I love the spirit of the discussion of these kinds of
projects. I think we should have those who object. .So
we get all the issues out. The positiveness of this
project would bring this community to a view of ownership
and presence of our community within the project itself.
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I had 'the prlvilege of going to Kansas city, and
they have the country club. They have -- it's the second
largest city of fountains fountains in the world. First
is Rome, and they took the idea from spain to build this
community in the twenties. It stands today because it's
quality~ This is a quality project. 00 not let this go
away from you. You have an excellent opportunity to help
the schools, to help jobs. we don't know what the job
picture is going to be in the future. We're going to
make it for our children. I have a daughter that grew up
here, went to Longley way, went through the all the
schools, and these are opportunities for young people,
and we need to think of this. Future of Arcadia, all the
pollution and things will go out with pink oil. YOU have
to understand this is not just a 10-year project. This
is not' a normal kind of building. This is a monument,
and when yo~ think. of the world and the monuments you
have, there are very few because it's just not for a fast
buck, because of the quality in the motor of that project.
This is Arcadia. They've always made good decisions
right from the beginning all the way through, and this is
the. jOb of the council to look at all the positives and
the n~gatives. We have hope here. let's approve the
project and get it moving.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
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okay, Beth?
MS. CASTANZAS: Beth castanzas, and I'm the
director of the Arcadia chamber of Commerce, 388 west
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Huntington Drive. I. would just like to say that the
chamber of Commerce has a mission statement, and the
mission statement is this to playa critical and integral
role in maintaining a healthy business environment,
contributing to the economic growth of the city and
enhancing the city's image. With that, we have -- the
board of directors has voted to support the Caruso
project. I have a letter here that states that, and I am
not going to read it because this is very late tonight,
and I would just like to say that at the end of it it
says, "Based on observations at -- and reports from other
caruso efforts, it is our belief Caruso Affiliated is a
highly ethical and conscientious developer that can be
trusted to build a first class, secure, family friendly
development with input from the chamber and other city
organizations at every step of the way. The Chamber
voted that The Shops at Santa Anita will have an
immediate, growing, and 'lasting positive impact on
Arcadia's commerce as a whole, and wholeheartedly support
the project. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. It's singh, 650
west Duarte Road. Okay. we'll move on to John
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Twitchell, Arcadia's Firefighter Association.
MR. TWITCHEll: Good evening. My name is John
Twitchell. I'm current president of the Arcadia
Firefighter's ASsociation. last year, when The Shops at
santa Anita was announced, our association took notice.
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Just like the citizens of Arcadia, we also SKWEed the
existence and viability of such a large scale development
that, would be located on the south parking lot of the
Santa Anita race track.
A great, deal of thought and consideration was
given to the proposed shops of the santa Anita project.
Meetings were held with Caruso Affiliates to gain a
greater understanding of what was being proposed.
Careful consideration was given to both pro and con input
from citizens and city council.
The potential impact on services provided by the
Arcadia Fire Department have been evaluated on many
levels. Tremendous time and effort has been spent
gathering and reviewing facts. in order to make the best
decision. The decision to support this project was made
based on facts, as it pertained to the fire department
and it's continued level of service to the city.
Miti9ation plans have already been developed by
fire department staff to address the concerns of such a
large scale development. We are confident that our
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mi ssi on as a Cl ass one fi re department wi 11 be
strengthened and our level of commitment to the citizens
of Arcadia will be sustained.
The benefits of this development are far
reaching to the City of Arcadia and its residents. The
Arcadia Firefighter's Association would not agree to
support it if we felt it was not ,going to be a benefit to
the city as a whole. please understand this, that our
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support does not establish acts, but a reassurance to
you, the citizens, that we have the city's interest at
heart. The project will provide revenue in excess of
what the city already receives, therefore providing
economic stability for years to come.
commissioner parrille has agreed to fix the
city's antiquated traffic system, a long overdue problem.
which would improve response times for both police and
fire departments, and at the cost -- and the cost of
modernizing the traffic system would be done at caruso's
expense, and not imposed on the citizens of Arcadia.
This proposed project would also provide much
needed office space and recreational district at no cost,
a gesture that shows its commitment to the residents and
thei r children. In turn, this would alleviate the
overcrowding in Arcadia High school, by providing the
desperately needed space to expand classrooms and provide
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better use of the Bond Measure R monies.
The proposed shops at Santa Anita will also
ensure the long term benefit of santa Anita Park. This,
along with the new performing arts theater, would give
families a safe environment together and enjoy time
together.
The Arcadia Firefighter's Association firmly
believes that together, westfield shopping Town and the
shops at santa Rita can coexist and will be able to
foster a sensible growth for all who call this great city
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Next is Perry
Torry. 330 coral Avenue.
THE WITNESS: perry Torry is gone.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: okay. Jim Romo. And after
that will be Rob Mathias.
MR. ROMO: Good evening, Mr. Chairman and
members of the planning commission. And a special hello
to those of you up there that are personal friends of
mine. My name is Jim Rome, and I'm a 24-year resident of
Arcadia. And I, currently serve as the president of the
Arcadia unified school District Board of Education, and
I'm just about ready to complete my tenth year of service
as a member of the school board.
I wanted to address some of the issues that have
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been brought up this evening. I'm probably no better
person to be speaking to some of the concerns that were
raised by our residents about the benefits that the
school district may derive by the approval of this
particular project.
And as Mr. caruso mentioned in his slide
presentation earlier, the board did, in fact, pass a
resolution in support of the ,project, and there's obvious
reasons for it. Because as he mentioned, and as other
speakers did this evening, there's a direct benefit that
the school district derives from approval of this
project: A 22,000 square foot facility where we can
house our di strict admi ni strati on offi ces, It wi 11
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double the size of our current district office, which
sits on the northwest corner of the high school campus.
we will have more rooms for meetings. We will
have bigger space for staff development, which is a very
important issue; training our teachers to be the best
possible teachers that they possibly can. And having
better locations and facilities for our board meetings,
to invite the public to attend.
It's very close quarters as they exist now.
It;s not a very inviting facility. It's nothing like the
city council chambers. ~nd we think if we had something
better that we would have more people showing up to learn
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a little bit more about what's happening in their public
school system.
But in November of 2006 a vast majority of the
ci ti zens in thiS communi ty approved a $218 mi 11 i on bond.
About a 130 million of those dollars are going to be
spent on renovating and con~tructing new buildings at the
high school. Many of you here who have students at the
high school or who had students at the high' school, know
that space i.s at a premium on that campus.
one of the things that this school board has
looked at, certainly during my term on the board, is how
we could better use the space facilities at the high
school. In order to do the project that we anticipate to
be able to do, with that amount of money, we need that
space. We need to move that district to another location
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within the city. Thanks to Mr. caruso's generosity, we
will have that opportunity to expand and have the better
faci 1 i ty.
But more importantly, we're going to be able to
maximize the space at the high school to do the types of
project that I thi nk thi s communi ty expects thi s board to
spend this money over. It'S a very crowded campus as it
stands now. By improving that space ,we will have better
opportunity to service our children. Thank you very
much.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: Next is Rob Mathias. After
that Jan Anderson and then Alexander zajack.
MR. MATHIAS: okay. Mr. Chairman, commission.
My name is Rob Mathias. My wife and I reside at 816
coronado Drive in Arcadia. we've been there for
25 years. And that's about two blocks away from the
Westfield Mall right now, but we don't really enjoy
shopping there.
The parking is terrible. To walk there, you
have to it's not pedestrian friendly to walk off
Huntington Drive to get into the mall. You have to zig
zag through the parking lot. It's actually not a direct
way to get into their mall for pedestrians, either
Ba 1 dwin or Hunti ngton.
This project is terrific. I love it. I can't
wait for it to happen, and I encourage you to go ahead
and pass the proposition. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Is Jan Anderson
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here? Alexander zajack. And after that will be Tommy
Sinclair and then Jack lin.
MR. ZAJACK: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name
is Alexander zajack. I reside at 126 Alta Street. I'.m a
young person, I'm only 21 but I've lived here for much of
my life, for seven years.
And from my perspective, although I do drive
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now, I haven't always. And this project is too insular.
It is -- it is it has no provision for people who
don't drive. And it is pedestrian oriented only from the
perspecti ve of once you dri ve your car there. .Just 1 i ke
the westfield Mall, as the previous speaker said, it's
hard to get to.
I do like the change that there's no more
southern asphalt moat; however, it's still very difficult
to get onto the property from anywhere else. The trolley
is a very nice feature. It's more than -- is l~ttle more
than a novelty at thi s poi nt . It is li mi ted to the area
on the site, it doesn't even go up to the ~dge of the
site. perhaps if there was some extension to the new
Gold line station that will be at corner of First and
santa Rita, it could be bring in people from outside of
the area without bringing cars and pollution.
I'd also like to point out that this mall is
being touted as a downtown Arcadia. well, Arcadi a
already has a downtown. About ten years ago the city
council put a lot of money into revitalizing the area of
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21 East Huntington Drive. It's an neighborhood very
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nice but it will detract from an area that has already
been invested in quite heavily by the city, by public tax
money.
Also, as mentioned by some earlier speakers, the
mitigation measures will only seek to reduce the pain of
whatever -- we'll call it problems traffic will cause.
The mitigation tactics being used are primarily the same
ones being used in orange county, which has seen
explosive growth over the last 20 years, and these
mitigation tactics has not helped the traffic. If
anything, traffic is at an all time -- it rivals los
Angeles county. And that's all have I to say.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Next is Tommy
sinclair? okay. Jack lin, 865 W. Foothill Blvd? calish
schol1n. 522 west Harmon Avenue.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Go ahead.
MR. LIN: Yes. MY name is Jack lin. I have
lived in Arcadia since the 80's. I have many memories.
Arcadia is a quiet suburban city. I like Arcadia. The
big question: what kind of city do you want Arcadia to
be? Is Arcadia the Newport Beach in santa Monica? A
metropolis. The mall will bring in thousands more
people. I have not .seen the road so I'm not totally
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informed', but I will make my decision, final decision
tonight. please take some more time before advancing
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with the plan. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you, Mr. lin. Okay.
IS Ca 1 shephard here? okay. Joseph Fi n at 740 singi ng
wood Drive? Ray Azu at 150 west las Tunas Drive? okay.
Robin Moore, 2015 s. Eighth. And after that will be
larry williams and then Kathleen Vanderwen.
MR. MOORE: Gentlemen, I'm really tired. I want
.to go to bed. unfortunately, I lost my ride home so I'm
going to have to walk. unfortunately, you deci ded to
fast track this and not allow for another session. I
feel that's really too bad because there's a lot of
comments that you'll .mi ss out on. So that's your loss
and Arcadia's lost.
I'm a civil engineer. I've lived in Arcadia
since 1975. I have limited experience in traffic
management. This I know for sure, is that when I leave
to go home from work, and I take the eastbound 210, the
traffic is backed up Rosemead and beyond. And it's
the traffi cis abso lutel y i inpossi b'l e. It's goi ng to be
made worse with 50,000 more cars on weekends, 30,000 cars
duri ng the day.
If you know it's going to be in the afternoons
and the eveni ngs, it's not goi ng to be in the morni ngs; 'I
think there's going to be hell to pay on the 210. And
I'm doubting the veracity of the traffic statements,
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because you haven't taken into the consideration the
traffic on the 210.
You also haven't taken into consideration the
traffic in Monrovia. You haven't taken the traffic
that's backing up going into Monrovia. If ,the 210 is
backed up, peopJe are going to have to go down
Huntington. :They're goi ng to have to go down Hunt; ngton
to Duarte. And Monrov;ans, the El Monte, all the
surrounding areas, they probably don't have any kind of
traffic management or good signs, so I think that's an
issue.
I would also challenge the veracity of the city
council. I don't think they've done south Arcadia much
good. They've made ;t into a homes of -- a community of
mansions. They've created a ton of homes with no back
yards. It's like the New Orleans shotgun homes, one home
backed up to the other. Tons of condominiums. when is
this growth going to stop? when;s there going to be
enough revenue? That's about all I have to say. Thank
you and good n; ght.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Next, larry
Williams.
MR. WIllIAMS: I'm larry williams. I'm from 130
Greenfield Place. I'd like to talk about benefit versus
risk and I'd like to talk about the water --so called
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water feature. I feel this lake, here, has essentially
no real benefit to either people at the proposed mall or
to anyone else. It's basically anaesthetic feature but
it has two downsides. one, of course, is the threat of
drowning or injury in the water, and the other is the
west Nile virus.
NOW, if you can imagine a situation at night,
when you're with a small child and that child goes
missing, you're in one of these restaurants and you try
to find that child along the periphery of this body water
in the dark. There are no preventions for access to this
water, so you can simply walk into it.
The West Nile virus, which is the second issue
I'd like to raise, is a serious issue in this area. And
it's an issue for not only Arcadi a but for a 11 the
surrounding communities. The problem is that with
humans,for example, up to ten percent of those who show
symptoms die. But for horses, the number now rises to 50
percent. And I've always found it particularly ironic
that this feature is set up right next to a race track.
The states, both of California and New York,
have given, on their websites, that the best way to
reduce West Nile virus is to eliminate all sorts of
standing water. This implies things like removing dishes
from the outside for your animals and spare tires, and so
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The alternative to this is, I think, a grassy
area or better yet, a xeriscape, which would allow some
increased parking. we've already heard that parking is
inadequate on the proposal for the traffic flow. And
also, a xeriscape or green area would allow us to have
athletic events in the summer.
So because we have essentially no benefit and
two downside risks, I propose that this water feature be
eliminated. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Next is
Kathleen vanderwin, 637 west olive Avenue, Monrovia?
Okay. Dorothy Gonzales? Denny Boultinghouse, 460
Fairview Avenue. And after that will be Steve Son and
then Beverly street,
MR. BOULTINGHOUSE: Members of the commission, I
think tonight was a very significant meeting relative to
the Caruso project. I, personally, am very disappointed
as a resident of Arcadia and the source of the opposition
to this project, which I feel and I think many people
here tonight, far more eloquent than I, have said, very
very quality project and an asset to the city of Arcadia.
I thought the presentation tonight certainly
informed everybody in this room, gave a clear picture of
what the Caruso project is and what it is not. I think
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that every resident of Arcadia, man, woman, and child, if
they look and think about the motivations of the Caruso
project will come to the conclusion that I've come to.
And that is. very simply, that the Caruso
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project offers the residents of Arcadia an opportunity to
increase the quality of their lives, and i think you
gentlemen know that. or, if you don't, if you're on the
fence or whatever, think deeply about it. And I thank
you very much for the opportunity to speak this evening.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Steve Son?
Beverly Street? And after that will be phil consiglio.
MS. STREET: Thank you very much for your time
this evening. I know it's been a long evening for you,
and for those of us who of us that have wished 'to impart
our thoughts. I am Beverly Street. And my husband. Ron,
and I have reside in Arcadia since June of '55. our two
soris went through Arcadia's schools and graduated Arcadia
High. And we truly are very happy that Caruso Affiliates
have thought to put this project in Arcadia.
personally, I wish it was the only project 'going
in and that our mall wasn't here, but it is, and I really
am grateful for what Caruso has tried to do for us as
Arcadians. He's'seemingly made every effort, he and his
company, have made every effort to make westfield and
their projects cooperative. And I think that's to be
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commended.
I'm sorry it seems the other parties have no
interest in trying to make it beneficial to all. I think
all of us have heard how many people do feel this project
is important. And I personally think when you have the
school district, the police department. the fire
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department, the chamber of commerce, all validating this
project, it does tell us this is a good thing for us.
And again, I thank you very much for your help.
And I do hope it's approved and I do hope it '5 approved
soon. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: phil consiglio.
MR. CONSIGLIO: I live up in the highlands on
canyon Road. I was not born in Arcadia. was not raised
in Arcadia. I grew up in Alhambra and I remember, as a
child, coming to the Santa Anita race track with my
father and saying, Gee, Dad, why don't we live here?
This is really nice. And he said, We can't afford to,
you have to be rich to live in Arcadia.
I took that to heart as a child, and as time
passed, my career allowed me the ability to move here
with my family. My wife was born here, raised here.
Went to Highland oaks Elementary, Foothill's Middle
school, Arcadia High School. I won't say when.
our goal was to raise our children here because
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it's a g,reat place. They're acti ve in the band. The
band that Arcadia High has, 400 members; it's phenomenal.
And no place to perform. The school board meets in a
trailer, in a city that you had to, when I was a child,
be rich to live in.
Now I feel because I'm blessed and I am rich,
and I want to see the city better. I now am the father
of three teenage daughters, we could open a. shopping
tour. We really could. And when they go to the current
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mall, I worry about'them. when they go to a Caruso
property, I don't, because of their security. I know
when they drive in the parking structure, from the moment
they drive into the parking structure until they drive
out, that they're going to be safe. And I believe that
will occur here as well.
I was a nay sayer in the beginning. and r must
say that all of the things that I disagreed with have
been mitigated. And I don't intend to define the word
"mitigate" to anybody here, but I do believe that
everything that I disagreed with is gone. And I believe
that it wi 11 be an outstandi ng property.
I know it's going to cost a little more to have
my kids shop there, and my wife, because it's going to be
a 'high-end development. As a resuit, we're. going to get
a higher end clientele. And if you're worried about
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smog, believe me, the cars they drive produce a lot less
smog than the lower end clientele; and I've got a couple
of lower-end clientele customers. But I believe very
strongly in this project and I want you to vote in favor
of this project unanimously and keep my kids in Arcadia,
so they don't have to wander off to go shopping. Thank
you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Ann -- I can't
even say that. It's like 122 East Foothill or 113.
THE WITNESS: I'm right here. Give me a minute.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: come back in a minute.
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Jerry Durgerlan.
MR. DURGERIAN: Thank you and good evening,
members of the planning commission. Some of the names
you've been calling, as I hear, there's about 70. First,
to clarify the difference in traffic they've been talking
about, Caruso will be 804,000 square foot, Westfield is
only a 150,000 square foot. That's the main difference
there. Also, the traffic mitigations that Westfield is
proposing to have done, has been done except for Baldwin,
and that, was because of Cal Trans.
And so, as you know my name is Jerry Durgerian,
and my questi on is who, rea 11 y, has the fi na 1 word about
the proposed mall project, Arcadia or Caruso Affiliates?
If in doubt, read the Final specific plan for the Shops
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at santa Anita park, also known as Caruso Affiliated.
Quote: "wherever it relates to (inaudible) of
Santa Anita Park speci fi c pl an contai n provi si ons whi ch
establish regulations including but not limited to
heights, 1 and space usage, parki ng, si gns, open space,
landscape requir.ements which are different from, more
restricted than, more permissive than will be allowed
pursuant to the provisions contained in section 9263."
9263 is one of Arcadia's municipal codes. And
thi s is the ki cker: "The Santa Ani ta Parks specifi c pl an
shall prevail and supercede the, applicable provisions in
the Arcadia Municipal Code and various ordinances,"
unquote.
In view of this paragraph, how can you, in good
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conscience, vote to approve this project? This language
is derived to remain unchanged and the hard work of
elected city officials. both past and present, will have
been for naught. All the countless hours of meetings by
the planning commission and city council would have been
a sham and their efforts have been negated.
why should any developer demand special
attentions to prevail and supercede all Arcadian
munic1 pal codes and vari ous ordi nances? Every enti ty
should be obligated to follow the same rules. If this
atrocity is allowed. this planning commi.ssion and city
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council would have advocated the responsi bil i ti es to
protect and serve our community.
I sincerely hope that you'll carefully consider
this question and the negative impacts brought on by the
proposed project. Thank you for your time and
consideration.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: okay. Thank you very much.
I'd make a comment that we --
COMMISSIONER KRUCKEBERG: We delivered speaker
cards with written comments. For the record. we'd like
to acknowledge that, from Mr. Baderian. We'd also like
to acknowledge Mr. pickett's earlier submittal, which
were a number of form e-mails which have been submitted
into the record as well.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. Is Ann
Durgerian here?
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MS. DURGERIAN: Yes. okay. I've been here
since 431, and I really appreciate you taking the time to
call me since it's almost 11 o'clock. can you hear me
now?
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Yes, we can hear you now.
MS. DURGERIAN: Good evening, planning
commission. My name is Ann Durgerian and I have lived in
Arca~i~ for over 36 years. My husband Gerry, who just
spoke, and I had a,very successful business in the past,
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for many years., and have been active members of the
Arcadia community and organizations in which our two sons
participated and, and with substitutions we believed
could use our support.
Each year our hospital, Methodist Hospital of
Arcadia, receives thousands of emergency room patients.
unfortunately these days, these patients are often far
sicker than was the case in the past, and many more of
them need to be admitted to the hospital. Thank you so
much for your approval of the hospital's plans to improve
the vital services they supply. I'm concerned, how~ver,
that the proposal before you tonight could have many
negative impacts on our precious hospital, and you know
we have one of the f,fnest in the United States. I'm sure
you know that; right?
The Caruso Magna Mall's proposal environmental
documents indicates that we have spent one million cars
per month on our local streets. As the proposed mall and
downtown center would be located just across the street
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from the hospital, it seems reasonable to expect that a
lot of those cars will be traveling the very roads that
lead to our emergency room.
They are already times when ambulances are
trying to get to the hospital have to jump the street
medians, which I'm sure you know what that is, and travel
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through oncoming traffic to timely deliver those in need
of emergency medical services.
The City of Arcadia selected Methodist Hospital
for many reasons, and I'm sure that one of those was
Methodist's commitment to provide quality services to
Arcadi a's resi dents. And they have lived up to thei r
expectations. AS the city grew, so did the hospital
always maintaining quality patient services. The closure
of other area hospitals has put pressure on Methodist to
continue the tradition, and I think it is our
responsibility 'to do our part by keeping the emergency
room exit easily available to arriving ambulances. And
I'm sure you'd all agree; right? What if that was your
family having to be rushed to the hospital in an
emergency situation. Think about it.
Visitors to the hospital will
of this traffic, making the experience
pleasant one.
be caught in
a less 'than
all
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Mrs. Durgerian, I'm going
to have to cut you off. You're, past your 3-minute time.
MS. DURGERIAN: okay. well, I would also like
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to turn in, and I'm sure you won't mind a few extra
seconds.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Ma'am--
MS. DURGERIAN: I'm going to finish this.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: Ma'am--
MS. DURGERIAN: Arcadian residents
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Ma'am, everybody has the
same time limits. If you want to turn that in, you can
turn it in over here and we will add that to the public
record. Thank you.
The next speaker is Barbara Colton. Alexis
Parker. Douglas Carstens, 325 Ocean park Boulevard.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Then after that will be
John Berlin and Judy Packer.
MR. CARSTENS: Good evening, Mr. Chairman. My
name is oouglas carstens. I'm an attorney with chatten,
Brown & Carstens. Forgive me for speaking fast, I only
have three minutes. I wish I had a half an hour or more.
NoW, I am here on behalf of Arcadia's First, who
are including 4,950 members and supporters. Again, I
wish I had more than three minutes. But I submitted a
letter. I'm a patient guy, it's five minutes until
11 o'clock, and I've seen a lot of hearings. I just
haven't seen one where all the supporters go up in the
first half and everybody else goes in the second.
Mr. chairman, I heard you say that those cards
would be called in a random selection, but then at 9:55
we hear that it was called in the order received.
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Whatever. We just wanted to know what the rules are.
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We have been receiving response cards from the
community, maybe a thousand of them. And they've come in
with independent people sending cards saying 900 -- about
900 supporting, maybe SO support the project. looking at
this tonight, you wouldn't think that. But you'll find
it out, you know; we'll see. Time will tell.
NOw, the impacts of this project, we've heard
traffic air quality, noises., aesthetics, we laid them all
out, they're there in the staff report, pages 35 to 38.
Look, if you're going to continue this to wednesday, all
those people wanting to say something to you, why can't
you let them come and speak to you on wednesday? Why
can't you continue it? what have you got to lose but a
couple days, and you'll get to hear from people?
Mr. Caruso said he wanted to talk to the people. That's
a welcome thing. why not start with continuing this
until wednesday so a lot more talking can be done,
instead of waiting until 11 o'clock to wear people out?
What has not been Qiscussed here, the
development agreement, it became available, what,
March 9th? 10 days ago. 11'1 there there's a guaranty of
S2 million. where's the no million. It's not in the
development agreement. we looked. There's a traffic
impact fee. I think it's maybe calculated at 5..6
million. That's not 10 million.
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Bl
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And in this joint venture agreement, september
28th, 2006, between Caruso and Magna. It says, "The
tenant may use the premises only for retail,
entertainment usage and (inaudible) residential, rental
and/or for sale housing." I thought residential was off?
why is it in there?
It also says there's a residential management
agreement in the event there's a residential component to
the project, and it provides for a residential management
and leasing fee. why all this provision for residential
if it's off the table? why?
we have a lot of questions. I have
three minutes. It's probably up by now. can't really
make that out. you've got my long letter. I invite you
to read it. I invite you to read the two and a half feet
of documents that support this decision.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Mr. carstens, your time is
up. Next is susan Berlin. okay. Judy Packer.
MR. DEITSCH: Mr. chairman, one of the speakers
questioned about the order of cards.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Yes?
MR. DEITSCH: Although the cards were accepted,
and we thought it was on a random basis, it appeared
early on that most of the speakers were actually favoring
as opposed to opposing the project. As a result, at the
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first break we shuffled the cards intentionally, in order
to allow, at least the perception, if not the reality.
And I think it has been the reality of a more balanced
presentation of speakers. And truly, again, at random,
but this time based on a shuffling of cards. And that's
the way it's been since the first break.
CUMMISSIONER OLSON: And I'd like to point out
that in almost all of our public hearings that we have,
that the -- there's no favoring of one side or the other.
The applicant has always given their chance to present
their case. And we normally ask for those people that
support on the side of the applicant, and then we 'hear a
lot' of testimony for those that don't support it. Then
the applicant's given one final time to rebut.
A 11 that sai d, I thi nk thi s has been very fai r
and I don't see anything that's created a, problem for how
we've taken our testimony and for what we're looking at.
MR. DIETSCH: If ,I may say one more thing. The
chair is correct. It's certainly been a lawfully
conducted order. There's nothing unlawful about the way
the cards have been handled. And you are correct in
saying that at most, public hearings, often those in favor
of a project are permitted to come up to the microphone
first, fo 11 owed by those in opposi ti on, fo 11 owed by those
who are nei ther here no.r there.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: That's correct. Thank you.
John Berlin. Eric perry. Patty Hund. Then after that
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will be Judy MCKinley.
MS. HAHN: patty Hahn, 1410 Oakmont Road. And
I'm not related to Kenny or James Hahn. sorry.
I'm in favor of the shops at Santa Anita, and
I've been a resident here for over 30 years. I've been a
school teacher for 35, and I'm in the business of solving
problems every day, with my kids. And the main thing
that I wish -politicians and Westfield would remember is,
if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all.
The whole world would be a,better place if individuals or
groups would follow these simple words. I'm tired, very
tired, of negative advertisements. And I think tonight a
lot of people have supported Caruso's project and I truly
support the project, and I can't wait for the shops at
Santa Anita to arrive in our town. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: okay. Thank you. Judy
MCKinley. Paul laird. Edmund serine. carrie Basset at
937 coronado?
MS. BASSET: Basset.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Okay. sorry. And the last
card I ,have is Kathleen vanderwen.
MS. BASSET: I'm Carrie Basset at 937 coronado.
I'm really sleepy. My husband and I have lived here all
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our lives. our children -- my son graduated from Arcadia
High . well ,actua 11 y, we both graduated from Arcadi a
H~gh. My son graduated from Arcadia High last year and
my daughter will graduate this year.
I came looking and I think a lot of p~ople came
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here to hear facts. I have not heard any facts, again,
for the project. I have a fact for you: My entire
outfit is from Pasadena. My purse and wallet is from
south Coast Plaza. It's a real demographic fact.
My thing about the race track is it's private
property, they should be able to do whatever they want
with it. 'They can do whatever they want with it. Caruso
is the best thing that we have in front of us. I think
we should take it. Thanks.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you. IS there
anybody ~hat filled out a card that has not spoken, that
we might have missed? okay. And that's it for comments
at this point.
Now what I thi nk we'11 do ,. it's 11 0' clock. I
know there going to have to take a break for a couple of
minutes. Why don't we take another 10-minute break and
then the applicant will have a IS-minute time to --
Pardon me?
MR. DIETSCH:
MR. CARUSO:
You want to do that now.
If it's easier.
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COMMISSIONER OLSON: Well, I've got to check.
Are we okay, ti me wi se?
MR. DIETSCH: We're okay.
MR. PENMAN: we're going to need some time to
address all the comments. And the question is -- I
understand that we --
COMMISIONER OLSON: oh, I would agree. You can
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complete the public participation portion, then you can
decide what you want to do.
MR. PENMAN: Yeah. I would suggest that you do
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that.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: GO ahead, Mr. Caruso.
MR. CARUSO: Members of the commission and
staff, I just wanted to thank you for your time tonight.
I have no comment to make other than a thanks to the
public who have hung in here tonight. And particularly
our supporters, I appreciate all the nice comments and
thank you for spending a long evening and consideration.
And I would certainly ask you for your support and your
vote of confidence on this project, Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Thank you.
MR. DIETSCH: Mr. chairman, I would like to ask
the applicant if he has revi ewed the staff report and is
in agreement with the pros and recommendations set forth
in the staff report?
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MR. CARUSO: Yes, I have and I am.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Is there any questions of
the applicant before he sits down again?
okay. Can I have a vote to close the public
heari ng?
COMMISSIONER PARRIllE: so move.
COMMISSIONER BADERIAN: Second.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: okay. Roll call, please.
THE ClE~K: Mr. Baderian?
COMMISSIONER BADERIAN: Yes.
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THE CLERK: Mr. BERANEK?
COMMISSIONER BERANEK: Yes.
THE CLERK: Mr. HSu?
COMMISSIONER HSU: Yes.
THE CLERK: Mr. parrille?
COMMISSIONER PARRIllE: Yes.
THE CLERk: And Commissioner Olson?
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Yes.
okay. The public hearing is closed. We're
going to take a short break and then we'll adjourn and
discuss further what we're going to do.
(Recess.)
COMMISSIONER OLSON: okay. Thank you. After a
discussion with staff and for the additional material
that was turned in toni ght and speakers, as well, it will
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take them several hours, at least, to put it all together
for us to properly review it. so we've been asked if we
will, then, reconvene this meeting until Wednesday at
7 o'clock.
The public testimony is over with. There will
be no public hearing. But it is an open meeting and
everybody is ~ore than welcome to, obviously, come and
listen to our discussions that we'77 be making and the
recommendations, if any, to the city council at the time.
Do you want to add anything, Steve?
MR. DEITSCH: Yes. The planning commissioner's
recommendation would be to adjourn this meeting for an
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adjourned meeting of the planning commission on wednesday
March 21st, at 7 o'clock, P.M., at this location, where
we are now, at the Masonic Center.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: okay. Then before anyone
makes that motion, I do want to acknowledge our council
liaison i,s here, Councilman peter Amundson, is there
anything you'd like to say, or is it too late?
COUNCIlMAN.ADMUNDSON: NO.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: okay. DO I have any
matters from the planning commissioners?
Yes, Steve. GO ahead.
MR. DEITSCH: Chairman, commissioners have one
more reminder, that the public hearing has indeed been
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closed and it will not be subject to reopening at
wednesday's meeting. wednesday's meeting will be devoted
solely to getting advice from staff regarding any
recommended responses to comments and to deliberate
amongst the commissioners themselves, regarding the
recommendation to the city council regarding the land use
items that are on tonight's agenda. NO further public
hearing. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: okay. Thank you. Then I
can have I a motion?
COMMISSION BADERIAN: you're good at this. I
wish you would have wrote down the city attorney's.
comment relative to the, motion. could you repeat that
motion, please?
MR. DEITSCH: The recommended motion was to
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continue to adjourn this meeting to an adjourned meeting
at the planning commission regular meeting. On
wednesday, March 21st at 7 o'clock P.M. at this location.
COMMISSIONER BADERIAN: I will make that motion
as so stipulated by the city Attorney.
COMMISSIONER PARRIllE: second.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: The motion is seconded, but
before we have the final vote, then, tonight, I do want
to thank the audience for good behavior. And I'd also
like to -- a personal matter, adjourn this meeting in
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honor of my son's 21st bi rthday. He's down i.n San Di ego
today. I know the city council does this all the time,
they adjourn in memory of somebody and I said I would do
it in .honor of him. But I told him he better not drink
too much because it might be in memory, if he gets in
trouble.
Anyway, so in honor of my son Derek, I'll call
for the roll.
THE CLERK: Mr. Baderian?
COMMISSIONER BADERIAN: Yes.
THE CLERK: Mr. BERANEK?
COMMISSIONER BERANEK: Yes:
THE CLERK: Mr. HSU.
COMMISSIONER HSU: Yes.
THE CLERK: Mr. olson?
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Yes.
THE CLERK: Mr. parrille?
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COMMISSIONER PARRIllE: Yes.
COMMISSIONER OLSON: Okay. we stay adjourned
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20 until 7 o'clock, wednesday, March 21st, here. Than~ you.
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