Shopping center in Manhattan Beach, Calif., plans expansion
Source TRIBUNE
Feb. 12--Officials are seeking public opinion on the newly revised plans to expand the Manhattan Village Shopping Center.
A public meeting will be held Thursday, Feb. 12, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Police and Fire Community Room. Written comments will be accepted up to March 2 and can be e-mailed to Laurie Jester, planning manager in the Community Development Department at [email protected].
Despite the positive impacts of increased sales tax revenue from such a project, development also brings more cars and people. City and mall officials are conducting a state-mandated Environmental Impact Review to determine how this will affect the area and if there are ways to decrease any negative impacts that increased patronage would have.
Residents living in the gated community known as Manhattan Village adjacent to the shopping center, already weighed in and were victorious in 2007 with their request to move a parking structure farther from their homes and more into the heart of the mall area.
At the time, mall representatives were receptive to the concerns of the residents regarding noise, air and light pollution; and amended the plans. "If it doesn't work for them, it ultimately won't work for us," said Ruth Tewalt, Manhattan Village Shopping Center's general manager in a previous interview.
The new plans include the moved parking structure change and a slight decrease in the original square footage of new shopping area. The square footage decrease comes from the elimination of an originally proposed freestanding building in the Fry's Electronics area to make room for more parking, said Tewalt.
Originally, the plans called for 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space where Fry's now is and has been reduced to 88,000 square feet. The electronics store is scheduled for demolition when its lease is up.
Other plans for the shopping center include the addition of 50,000 square feet of outdoor, open-air retail and restaurant space, surrounding California Pizza Kitchen and China Grill and two bi-level, partially submerged parking structures.
Tewalt stated in a previous interview that she thinks traffic will flow more smoothly with the proposed changes allowing more east-west movement and alleviating the north-south circular traffic pattern within the shopping center. Developers hope to begin construction on this phase in 2011, according to reports in the Daily Breeze.
The second phase of the project includes possibly adding 50,000 square feet to the north side of the Macy's store, along with a two-level parking structure partially underground and demolition of the movie theater. Tewalt stated previously that Macy's expansion plans are not a sure thing, the store may choose not to expand.
The environmental issues to be addressed at the Feb. 12 public meeting include aesthetics; air quality; hazards; hydrology/water quality; land use; noise; public services (fire and police); traffic and parking issues; and water, waste-water and drainage issues.