On Thursday night, May 23, the Planning Commission (PC) is scheduled to discuss a number of issues that should be of interest.
MORE BOOZE
The PC will consider a request from the Foothill Ranch Car Wash to sell beer and wine. They’re located at 19232 Alton Parkway which is at the intersection of Portola Pkwy and Alton Pkwy, where, it turns out, there are already 6 other stores that sell beer and wine within a drunken man’s stumble of their location.
According to City staffers, the census tract where the applicant is located has been rated by the Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) as suited for no more than 2 stores that sell beer and wine, so the fact that we already have 6 such stores appears to show that the City has been doing a poor job of limited access to alcohol. This may be why we average nearly 200 DUIs a year along with 10 arrests for public drunkenness and nearly 50 liquor law violations.
We don’t need more stores selling beer and wine in Lake Forest, yet the City staff is recommending it. Not so long ago, City staff without reference to the Planning Commission added another liquor selling store to an area that already had its fair share of such stores, and the City is still involved in legal action over that ill-advised move. BTW – that extra store is only a mile or so away from this store, although technically it falls within another tract, and to make matters worse, there are 2 more stores located within a stone’s throw of the proposed new store, but also in another tract.
Enough nonsense! We have a City Council member arrested and convicted of drunken driving and a city that recently approved opening a gambling den. We have more alcohol selling stores than the ABC thinks is prudent in several of our tracts. Are we looking to become the Sodom and Gomorrah of South County? Generally speaking I’m against government regulation, but when it’s in the public interest, it can be helpful. We don’t need more alcohol selling stores in an already over saturated area.
MORE HOMES = MORE TRAFFIC
There has been much discussion on these pages about the enormous increase in homes this is scheduled for our city, and what this will do to our traffic as well as our access to vital community services. The next PC meeting will discuss the proposals by Brookfield for 151 new condos in 11 buildings on 8.9 acres adjacent to Auto Center Drive in Foothill Ranch.
In case you don’t remember, Brookfield (and their partners Trumark) are the multi-billion dollar developers who were involved in financing the 2012 campaigns of newly elected Councilmen Robinson and Nick, and the 2010 campaigns of Herzog and Voigts. So it’s not surprising that the developers were put on the fast track right after the new council took their seats. Now they come to the PC and have to go through the normal process than all developers must go through. Here are some links to the sorry tale about the developers and their attempt to influence our recent elections –
Is Lake Forest For Sale? Part 3 - The Special Interests
Is Lake Forest For Sale? Part 4 - The Process
Is Lake Forest For Sale? Part 5 - The Council Decision
The difference for Brookfield and Trumark is that more than 4,000 homes have already been approved by the City, so Brookfield is a little late to the party. And anyone who has ever shown up late to a party knows that you risk missing out.
So now that more than 4,000 homes (=20,000 more cars, vans, and trucks every day) are scheduled, it’s finally time for the City to look at the impact of the new traffic on the quality of life in the City. Specifically I’m talking about the impact on traffic and the impact on the use of needed public services (e.g., library, post office). These topics have been thoroughly discussed in my series “traffic tsunami”.
The PC should require a comprehensive study of these impacts – something that has not been done yet – before they approve any changes to the Master Plan that allows more homes. In the unlikely event that the PC concludes that the addition of 200 more homes will not impact our public services and our traffic, there are still some problems with the Brookfield proposal, and these relate to their parking plans. Brookfield plans to adopt tandem (back to back) parking in garages, effectively turning a 2 car garage into a one car garage. The disadvantages are lower resale value, creating blocked sidewalks by crowding driveways, and discouraging the use of the garage and parking spills into adjacent areas. Click here for a discussion of the disadvantages of tandem parking
The PC is right in the middle of a reconsideration of parking standards for residential parking, and the radical plans of Brookfield need to be put on hold until the PC has had a chance to re-evaluate our current regulations.
MORE ISN’T BETTER
There’s a commercial currently airing on TV in which a bunch of little kids tell why more is better. When you’re a little kid, more is better. Hopefully the PC commissioners are adults and realize that more alcohol serving stores isn’t better and more traffic isn’t better. Less opportunities to get drunk and less traffic will make a better city.
If you care about having more traffic and more booze it our city, show up at the Planning Commission tomorrow night, May 23, at 7 pm and share your thoughts with the commissioners.
