By Roberto Kampfner
In the past year, the Manhattan Beach City Council has had numerous meetings about renovations to the Manhattan Village Mall, which is poised to add more parking spaces and more restaurants, shops, and benefits the community immensely.
As of March, the City Council has had fifteen meetings concerning this issue, and the renovation is one of the largest bills that the city has ever had. The renovation starts with the new interior by adding more shops, restaurants, and a larger new parking garage. The garage has proved to be the most controversial stage of the renovation.
1,200 people have signed a petition to modify the renovation project, but most of the people that are opposing this bill are taking the stance that it shouldn’t happen. Conversely, common sense tells us that areas with more parking space better restaurants and more shops, generates a lot of revenue and with the high city taxes, would provide Manhattan Beach with additional income.
Marc Krigsman, an opposer to the build and a resident of Manhattan Beach said the group to sign the petition had some ideas to downsize the project. His group proposed several options which include using the lower space as the build site, and making an open air facility. They also claim to be giving the mall proper access.
The residents signing the petition have a good reason to downsize, but if the Village mall were to use the whole side of the area in between the two lots, including the area near the dentist offices, it would combine for an open air facility while at the same time complimenting the “Manhattan Beach Factor”, having everything like a small beach town.
The three story garage proposed in the plan is indeed a bit overkill, however, they might be able to use an underground parking structure like the garage at the Metlox. There are plenty of multi level garages in the area, including the garage at the Arclight Theaters, and the exterior parking garage at the Metlox, right in the middle of downtown. Therefore the argument can be made that even if the garage is large, it still won’t be a new development for the city.
Krigsman also expressed his concerns with the traffic, saying that with all of the additions, the developer has said there is no impact, but he claims it is flawed because you don’t have to be a traffic engineer to understand that more traffic will come to the area and congest the nearby roads. However, if they are spread out enough, how could there possibly be that much congestion.
Although the petition does have good points, like letting the citizens be fully aware of planning, many of the reasons against are not as strong than the reasons for. This project will benefit our community by eliminating the hassle of finding a parking spot, as numerous family colleagues have complained, and will make the Village a better place for restaurants, shops, will open the community to a substantial amount of revenue.
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