At the end of its fifth public hearing on the proposed Manhattan Village mall expansion Tuesday, the Manhattan Beach City Council unanimously voted to close the public testimony portion of the process, indicating a small step of progress in the polarizing project which began seven years ago.
The motion, made by Mayor Pro Tem Amy Howorth, came at the urging of stakeholders, residents and the city’s economic consultant who explained that taking a pause from public comment is necessary to stabilize the conversation and yield productive council discussion that will culminate in a final vote.
“It’s my observation at this point that this public record is getting peppered with a lot of arguments that aren’t about your decision,” consultant Larry Kosmont said. “…The noise in the system right now is just unbearable.”
Under the Brown Act, the council may reopen public testimony at any time, city legal counsel Larry Wiener said.
It was another lengthy public hearing that ended in this decision – nearly five hours of presentations and discussions on the latest mockup of a revitalized 44-acre mall, an ambitious proposal by property owner RREEF.
As proposed, the three-phase development would respectively demolish Coffee Bean and See’s Candy among other stores for an outdoor promenade and two-level parking deck in 2015; consolidate Macy’s Men with the main department store and build another two-level parking deck north of the expansion in mid-2017, and demolish Fry’s Electronics to build a connecting mall on Rosecrans Boulevard in approximately 2019.
The revised proposal presented by Mark English of RREEF Tuesday included more appeasements to address the concerns of the council and community: a $20,000 donation toward a neighborhood traffic plan for Oak Avenue, an offer to escrow funds for public improvements on surrounding streets if phases two and three don’t materialize, and a larger public gathering space fronted by a clock tower.
It also included a potential extension of Fry’s lease, which expires December 2016, to keep it operating until the beginning of phase three.
Gary Graumann, a broker representing Fry’s Electronics, sent a letter Monday to Richard Thompson, the city’s director of community development, expressing that the business “would very much like to stay at its current location” and wants to be considered in the expansion.
“We were very surprised to hear that,” city planning manager Laurie Jester told council. “It was the first time they raised this with us.”
The new development regarding Fry’s subjected the proposal to even more hesitation from council members, who expressed concern about the uncertainty of phases two and three. Phase three, as currently proposed, is a concept plan.
If the latter phases don’t materialize “it would destroy the character of this mall forever,” Councilman Mark Burton said, urging that this public process of deliberation should not be rushed.
At the bottom of the fourth hour, RREEF’s English stood in front of council again, saying his team has undergone an unprecedented number of public hearings since the original proposal in 2006, and that they will not deviate from this most recent plan.
“I think the members of the City Council have recognized the flexibility that we’ve shown, in terms of responding to those issues,” he said. “And perhaps that’s been a mistake because this has got to stop.”
Mayor David Lesser said while the project is moving in the right direction, he still sees outstanding issues that need to be addressed. He directed staff to gather more information, including the traffic impact with Fry’s extended lease and whether a connection of Cedar Way to Rosecrans Avenue could be built in phase one.
The City Council will discuss the project at a standalone meeting on Jan. 14 in the Council Chambers.
