Planners Halt Public Hearings on Permit for Sport Chalet

The La Canada Flintridge Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to end months of public hearings on a conditional use permit for the proposed Sport Chalet shopping complex.

The commissioners will now begin consultation with the city’s director of community development to determine the adequacy of the environmental impact report. The action came amid a volley of critical questions by residents.

More than 300 people packed a meeting room Tuesday night for the most recent public hearing on the project, which has fueled a continuing controversy for more than two years. Many of the approximately 20 who spoke said the planning staff and the firm preparing the environmental impact report had failed to answer their written concerns.

Tom Worthington, of Impact Sciences, the firm which prepared the environmental impact report, said that most of the letters were received after the public-review period ended, and that many raised issues duplicated in other letters. He said all mail, including letters received after the deadline, had been given to the Planning Commission staff.

An alternative design for a smaller shopping center on the site was presented by architect Peter G. Kudrave. His plan includes a city hall, bank and 30 townhouses. One critic of the project, Elza Gross, told the commission that she had reviewed more than 2,000 responses to a questionnaire mailed to 6,000 households. All but three respondents indicated they want the Sport Chalet reduced in size.

However, Sam Allen, chief executive officer for the developer, said Sport Chalet has met with the public more than 30 times in planning the complex. Allen said his firm is convinced the present plan is fine and wants it approved.

The proposed La Canada Village project would be a 55,000-square-foot shopping center on 11.75 acres at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Angeles Crest Highway. The $25-million complex would feature a Sport Chalet store, a grocery market and a two-level parking structure.

Several residents said Tuesday that the director of community development, William F. Campbell, was biased in his refusal to consider alternatives for a smaller development on the site.

Campbell denied bias.

Planning Chairman Warren M. Gannon defended Campbell, citing his seven years of service.

“He’s the most professional of the planning directors we’ve had,” Gannon said.

Several residents at the hearing said they feared the shopping center may adversely affect traffic, and questioned what appeared to them to be incongruities in the environmental impact report’s traffic flow analysis. Others expressed concern over the increased sewage the complex would generate.