Westfield restaurant concerns
July 14, 2009 by admin
Filed under Business, City/Gov, Community, Guest bloggers
Mary Dougherty
Westfield Santa Anita’s request of the City to allow the mall to convert 13,500 sq feet of space designated for retail use in the newly opened Promenade expansion area to restaurant use was postponed again and placed on the Arcadia City Council agenda for a public hearing Tuesday, July 21, at 7 p.m., for which public input is welcome.
Westfield is seeking a categorical exemption, which, if granted, avoids even a cursory environmental impact review.
Westfield Santa Anita Promenade Grand Opening May 7
That exemption would mean that the City would have to absorb all the costs of any adverse impacts. As I understand it, this entitlement would be continuing, not just for whatever restaurant is currently proposed.
I also understand that, if approved, the 13,500 square feet of restaurant space could be relocated to any place in the mall without further study or approval; therefore I believe it behooves the City to require further environmental study of such things as:
-
Traffic – if there are additional traffic impacts, Westfield should pay for those impacts for such things as signals and other traffic system improvements.
-
Water – restaurants use substantially more water than retail. Should limits be placed on water usage?
-
Sewer – restaurants generate far more sewer waste than retail stores, both from restroom use and in food preparation and cleanup.
-
Trash – solid waste from a restaurant use might be 30-40% higher than retail uses. Garbage, grease and food waste is likely to attract pests. What pest control measures will be used, and what impact on the environment will those have? What recycling measures should be implemented?
-
Employees – restaurants tend to have many more employees, and each one contributes to additional water, sewer and trash use. (I believe restaurants have about five times the number of employees in the same space as retail.)
-
Air quality – exhaust from restaurant cooking may contain grease, smoke and particulate. It is a substantial change from a retail use and might require air pollution mitigation.
-
Hours of Operation – these could be changed once the approval is granted, and a bar and restaurant might be installed with extended hours of operation.
-
Police – It appears the greatest demand for police services at the mall has been at a current restaurant location. Another 13,500 square feet of restaurant use is likely to further increase the need for police services substantially.
-
Paramedic Services – Paramedic services are more likely to be needed at a restaurant for choking and other such incidents.
-
Fire – With grills, broilers, fryers and other cooking equipment there is a greater chance of fire than with retail.
-
Parking – What specific arrangements would be made to accommodate the extra employees’ and customers’ parking during the Holidays?
The point of enumerating all of these things is to show that there is a substantial difference between a retail use and restaurant use. The Arcadia Planning Commission’s concern for generating sales tax revenue for the City and a more profitable business for the mall is understandable. However, that is a short-range view.
The Arcadia City Council needs to look at the long range, and recognize that there is a potential for significant environmental impacts.
Plain and simple, Westfield needs to study and address all of these issues. Any impacts that this project may have, should be reduced to less than significant, and that should be the responsibility of Westfield not the City of Arcadia and its citizens.
Loading ...
We locate the 
When I went to the grand opening of the Promenade I was very surprised to see that there were no new restaurants open in the new development. In my opinion, the stores that are open will not survive without the additional draw of new eateries.
Westfield NEEDS new estaurants. While I realize that there has been a problem with restaurants staying in business in the last expansion, I believe this is partly due to the quality of restaurants that were there.
Clearly Westfield always intended to open restaurants in the Promenade. I seriously doubt that there is going to be a significant impact on traffic. I live right across the street from the Mall, so traffic is a concern, but I don’t see any additional traffic with the new expansion, and I think they need the restaurants to help the stores survive.
Mary,
I can see your concerns about the Promenade, but I’m curious about your position on the proposed Caruso project.
Jim
Jim,
Please don’t take my comments about Westfield’s needs to address environmental issues as being anti-Westfield. In fact, I am pro-business – including Westfield – because I understand the connection between business and the economy and its impact on the City of Arcadia and its citizens.
Nevertheless, Westfield, Caruso, and all other businesses should expect to comply with the environmental protections and should be required to provide the information that assures that their development will not adversely impact the quality of life in Arcadia. Any business with adverse impacts should pay to mitigate those impacts. Mitigation of adverse impacts should not be borne by Arcadia’s taxpayers.
I have a long history of supporting business, and believe that if the Caruso project had been built as originally scheduled that the City would not have suffered the decline in sales tax revenue that it has experienced, and that the cuts in staffing and services would have been lessened.
Having read through the environmental impact report prepared by Caruso, I believe that most of Westfield’s action against Caruso was simply prompted by a wish to delay the competition in leasing to retail tenants. I believe that Westfield’s action has not only hurt Caruso, the City of Arcadia, and the residents of Arcadia, but also has hurt Westfield itself.
I strongly support the Caruso project in Arcadia because Caruso Affiliated has established a track record of building quality venues, and continues to manage its projects after they have been built. I believe that the Caruso project would add a further dimension to Arcadia as a regional shopping center, and that it would also enhance racetrack attendance and the Westfield mall.
While we may view Arcadia as a “community of homes,” it is the business community that enhances our ability to enjoy the lifestyle of this community. I want success and profitability for all our businesses!
With best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Joyous Holiday Season to you and all the businesses in and residents of the community of Arcadia.
Mary
I believe the City Council should approve the requests from Westfield to open restaurants at the Promenade.
This new addition of Westfield Mall has no restaurants to my surprise. When we walked and shopped in the Promenade, we wanted to get rest and have something to eat/drink, but to the disappointment of all us visitors, there are no places for us to relax.
The closest nicer restaurants are on the other side of the Mall next to the theaters, it is just inconvenient and does not help the promotion of business for Promenade at all. Eventually, it beats the purpose of opening of this addition to the Mall.
Many of Arcadians do not like the way Westfield treated Caruso, but that should be a separate issue, we can not use it as revenge or punishment against Westfield.
We should focus on what we have now and make it better for the benefits of Arcadia as a whole, therefore we should approve the project in Promenade.
That is all we can do now.