Residents in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles have teamed up to go to battle against multi-national corporation Fresh & Easy regarding the design of their proposed store.
Fresh & Easy would like to build a new market in the Hyde Park community, at the southwest corner of 52nd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard, the site of the former Crenshaw Motor Ford dealership. The organization Hyde Park Organizational Partnership for Empowerment (“HOPE”) is not opposed to the grocery store coming to the Crenshaw community. They simply object to the design of the building, which has a 250' x 160' foot parking lot fronting Crenshaw Boulevard.
The area's design guidelines, codified in the Crenshaw Corridor Specific Plan, require new development in this section of Crenshaw to be “pedestrian oriented.” Among other provisions, it requires that new buildings have the parking to the rear or on the rooftop to provide a continuous wall of street-level retail and pedestrian amenities similar to Downtown Culver City.
The group appealed the matter to the Los Angeles City Council, putting the community coalition against the area's City Council member Bernard Parks. On Wednesday, Dec. 8, Mr. Parks put on a performance, busing in students and seniors, convincing his colleagues to vote to reject the appeal by HOPE.
The one very rare no vote came from Council member Richard Alarcon. He expressed concerns about potential abuse of Fresh & Easy's self-checkout system in the purchase of alcohol.
Following is the statement from the President of HOPE, Winnifred Jackson:
Last Wednesday's City Council's rubber-stamp of the Fresh & Easy plan with the football field- sized parking lot fronting Crenshaw Boulevard, which violates the pedestrian-oriented design standards articulated in the Crenshaw Corridor Specific Plan, will not be the last word on this matter. Our community fought long and hard to get these important provisions added to the city ordinance, as a part of a long-term strategy to transform Crenshaw Boulevard into the great street our community deserves. Hyde Park residents are tired of having to drive to Downtown Culver City, Downtown Pasadena, Santa Monica and the like to get the pedestrian-friendly experience we deserve in our own backyard. The Council's decision is a step backward to the Crenshaw of old, not forward to the Crenshaw of the future.
HOPE has known for some time now that we could not win at the City Council level. Councilman Bernard Parks does not share our vision for a modern Crenshaw Boulevard. The City Council never votes against the Councilmember in whose district a project is proposed. Accordingly, we made a decision in the lead-up to the hearing to focus our efforts on positioning ourselves for the next step. We successfully did that by putting our objections on the record, articulated on 22 pages with more than 500 pages of attachments.
We are restating our call for Fresh & Easy's CEO Tim Mason to come to the table to negotiate in good faith, heal the divide in our community, and avoid any further escalation. Fresh & Easy can do better. HOPE expects this multi-billion dollar multi-national corporation to comply with our community's standards.
The coalition has until the first week of January to file challenge the City Council's decision in Superior Court.
Ms. Jackson may be contacted at winnijac@yahoo.com
