[dragonsky]

Commission Gives Westfield Go Ahead

By Traci Kratzer

Glazer said because the EIR previously completed by Westfield is seven years old they should be required to complete a new EIR.

“We all know what this is about,” Glazer said. “Westfield doesn’t want to spend the money or the time to provide details on how much they want to build.”

Stephanie Eyestone-Jones, a principle with PCR Corporation, said she completed the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review for the addendum of the expansion and assured the commissioners that the report was “reviewed twice under CEQA guidelines.”

One of the biggest concerns for residents with both the Westfield expansion and the Caruso/Santa Anita racetrack project is traffic. Pat Gibson, a traffic and parking analyst, said that the traffic mitigation measures related to the proposed expansion have been studied and no significant impacts were found.

The city staff report did include a list of mitigation measures that remain outstanding and stated that each of the measures are under the jurisdiction of either Caltrans or Los Angeles County.

Resident Mary Doughtery said she had hoped to be supportive of the project but urged the commission to reject the addendum until “Westfield makes a cooperative and collaborative effort to control traffic impacts.”

“Westfield has good traffic, everyone else has bad traffic,” Doughtery said. “I can’t subscribe to that.”

Discussion on the expansion will go before the city council for a public hearing on April 3.

The architectural design review for the 100,800 square foot second expansion of the Westfield Santa Anita Mall received unanimous approval from the Planning Commission Tuesday night.

The commissioners also accepted the addendum to Westfield’s certified Environmental Impact Report (EIR) from 2000.

“We are consistently improving and investing in the community,” said Ken Wong, President of U.S. Operations for Westfield. “Our plan for the future is to approach that in a phased and logical manner.”

Wong said the expansion, which has been named “The Promenade,” will consist of five blocks of retail buildings in the southwest quadrant of the property south of Nordstrom and west of Macy’s. Wong said “The Promenade” will generate $540,000 annually to the city.

In a ten page letter to the members of the planning commission, Patricia Glazer, lawyer for both The Turf Club and Santa Anita Companies Inc., said that the addendum to the project is “flawed” and “inconsistent” with the City’s General Plan for several reasons. Included in those reasons was what she called the “shifting and understated size of the project.” She said the project appears to have grown in scope by approximately 200,000 to 400,000 sq. ft. She added that the certified 2000 EIR looked at a project with a floor area ratio (FAR) of .44, and the expansion as it is today looks to be over the allowed .50 FAR.

However, according to city staff reports, Westfield’s original request for an additional 600,000 sq. ft. of Gross Leasable Area (GLA) as analyzed in the 2000 EIR, shows that the expansion is below the allowable FAR of .50.