Santa Monica battle looms
The Santa Monica proposal to limit commercial development in an effort to ease growing gridlock has some strong opponents, according to the Lookout News:
The [Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce] has last month voted to oppose the measure, saying it could stymie much-needed projects and is based on a premise that has not been proven and may in fact be faulty -- that curbing commercial development relieves traffic congestion. “The definition of commercial development is extremely broad,” said Chamber President Tom Larmore. “This goes far beyond office development. The commercial development definition includes a whole raft of things.” Among the developments capped by the proposed initiative are hotels, which generate little or no additional traffic; medical facilities that complement the two major hospitals, and movie theaters to replace the outdated venues Downtown, Larmore said. In addition to curbing potentially beneficial projects, the initiative could discourage building the workforce housing its sponsors support, said Larmore, who is a real estate attorney. Because such housing cannot be deed restricted, it will most likely have to be subsidized by commercial development on site.
The vote could out to be a turning point in the years-old growth battles of the Westside. Santa Monica has rejected several big developments -- such as replacing the Santa Monica Place Mall with residential towers. But traffic there and across the Westside is a big problem. As Martha Groves wrote back in 2006:
Customers calling in for their pizza deliveries from the Domino's in Westwood typically live within a mile or two of the parlor. But these days, Domino's drivers say they often endure wicked traffic from the moment they leave the store, turning what once was a quick delivery into a 30-minute, and sometimes a 45-minute, ordeal. "They usually want to carry two to three more orders because it takes so long," said Domino's manager Arnulfo Fernandez, adding that the eatery won't let them for fear of robberies.
