Is Los Alamitos ‘Gridlock City?’
I must protest without hesitation, but with great justification against a freeway pylon sign creating visual blight into my neighborhood and adding even more gridlock traffic onto Katella Ave and its environment.
The Village 605 Regional Shopping Center project documents project 3 million 824 thousand 835 additional car trips yearly onto Katella Avenue. due to this regional retail project and its 2,000 square foot freeway pylon sign rising up 15 feet taller than the Oak Middle School track field lights which are already easily seen from: the north end of our neighborhood, and Willow/Katella Ave, and the 605 freeway.
This increased traffic and presence of any freeway pylon sign are diametrically opposed to the statements of the planners and the public in the Los Alamitos Commercial Corridors Plan. This all adds to (I hesitate to say contributes as this word does have some inkling of a positive connotation) even further degradation of all of our communities quality of life and will allow me to easily address The City of Los Alamitos with the appellation “GRIDLOCK CITY” and deservedly so.
Douglas Smith
Los Alamitos
Opposition to Village 605
My name is Kevin Pearce. I’m a resident of Rossmoor. I oppose the Village 605 freeway pylon sign.
I believe the City of Los Alamitos is doing what it believes is in the best interest of the community by approving the Village 605 project particularly because it will generate much needed sales tax revenue. However, I believe we collectively need to urge the City of Los Alamitos and Lincoln Property Company to find a balance between the Village 605 development and the community. One way that balance can be achieved is by no freeway pylon sign.
The freeway pylon sign will be seen not by the community, but by a captive audience namely, the students at Oak Middle School as well as the hundreds of children who use the Oak Middle School basketball courts, track and athletic fields on a daily basis. Regardless of the types of businesses that are advertised on the freeway pylon sign, it will be a constant commercial advertisement which is the antithesis of promoting an educational environment conducive to wellness and learning and will be an eye-sore, to say the least.
This is in addition to the stated concerns regarding the effect the shadows from freeway pylon sign may have on the Oak track and fields. Relative to the Rossmoor homeowners, the freeway pylon sign will be visible from the north end of Rossmoor which will likely adversely affect property values and “cheapen” the community.
The developer’s website – www.village605.com – states as follows: “Village 605’s premier freeway orientation, high average household incomes, huge traffic volumes and dominant freeway pylon signage will provide an unparalleled destination that will cater to the cities of Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Cypress, Long Beach and Cerritos.” (Emphasis added.)
By the developer’s own words, the freeway pylon signage will DOMINATE the landscape and seeks to exploit the freeway traffic. This dovetails into the next concern: traffic and safety. The removal of the freeway pylon sign will also have the effect of potentially reducing transient traffic off the 605 freeway thereby focusing on the safety of our students. The concern of the dominant freeway pylon sign being used to drive transient traffic off the 605 freeway is amplified by the fact that 365 by Whole Foods is seeking an alcohol license for “instructional tastings” (presumably wine/beer tasting) and it is likely Blaze Pizza will seek a license to sell beer and wine as well.
As there is now an increased community awareness of the Village 605 project, more and more people are speaking up in opposition to the freeway pylon sign. There is a Change.org Petition in opposition to the freeway pylon sign which is gaining momentum.The RHA previously issued a letter dated January 24, 2017 to City of Los Alamitos in connection with the January 30 appeal hearing (which was subsequently withdrawn).
Kevin Pearce
Rossmoor
Details on ‘Chief’ Joe separation agreement
Last week’s article in the Sun provided a good summary of the major provisions in Chief Stilinovitch’s separation agreement. However, a few additional details may be of interest to readers who are following this issue closely.
Firstly, the article states that Stilinovitch’s severance pay included six months of his base salary. This is correct, but the agreement makes clear that that this payment is consistent with Section 10 of Stilinovitch’s employment contract which requires payment of six months’ severance if he is fired “without cause.”
Secondly, the separation agreement makes clear that it “shall not in any way be construed as an admission by the City or Stilinovich of any unlawful or wrongful acts or other liability whatsoever against each other or against any other person. The City and Stilinovich specifically disclaim any liability to, or wrongful acts against each other or against any other person.”
Finally, the Sun article contrasted the Dec. 28th completion date of the investigative report with a statement City Attorney Craig Steele made two weeks later which was commonly interpreted as indicating that the investigative report was not complete. It is noteworthy that the public was again given this misimpression by Mr. Steele two months after the completion date. At the Feb. 27th City Council meeting, he stated “The investigation has been handled expeditiously and it has been handled fairly and as soon as there is something to report, we will report it. It is not stagnating.”
Robert Goldberg
Seal Beach
Good meeting in Leisure World
The Mutual 1 Good Neighbor Ambassador Emergency Preparedness Meeting recently was very fruitful. The Emergency Planning information was helpful. The agenda was varied, there were group discussions and lots of exchanges of ideas. There was also a question and answer session.
Meeting and knowing members in different units was awesome and I enjoyed socializing with the other members.
Lisa A. Dickson
Leisure World – Mutual 1
