Nine months after a judge ruled against residents trying to halt an expansion of the Manhattan Village mall, the anonymous group has reached a settlement out of court with the project developer.
Sensible Citizens of Manhattan Beach, which sued the city and developer RREEF in 2014 over the environmental analysis for a long-planned upscale makeover of the 44-acre mall, filed an appeal of the ruling in February.
But on Aug. 10, the group withdrew the appeal and requested the lawsuit be dismissed, sending the city a letter supporting plan revisions from RREEF that were approved by the Planning Commission in June.
Confidential settlement
Cory Briggs, a San Diego land use attorney representing Sensible Citizens, declined to discuss the settlement, saying only that its terms were confidential. RREEF attorney Peter Gutierrez also declined to comment.
Manhattan Beach City Attorney Quinn Barrow said he is pleased a settlement was reached.
“I think it’s a great thing that the project can finally proceed and I think everyone’s looking forward to the new, improved mall,” he said.
Work is underway to revitalize the 38-year-old mall at Rosecrans Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard with open-air, village-like shops, three above-ground parking decks and the consolidation of two Macy’s stores.
The project’s phasing was changed so that the northeast parking deck on Rosecrans Avenue and the Macy’s expansion will be done first.
But the owners of the Hacienda Building at 3500 Sepulveda Blvd., which houses Tin Roof Bistro, Susie Cakes and other businesses, say the latest version of the plan approved by the Planning Commission will discourage customers from finding them.
New challenge
They filed a pending lawsuit in February and an appeal of the commission’s decision in July, arguing that moving the northeast parking deck, losing 67 parking spaces near the building and relocating an elevator and stairway on the deck will only hurt business at the Hacienda Building.
Lara Leitner, an attorney representing 3500 Sepulveda, made the case to the Manhattan Beach City Council last week during an appeal hearing.
Under the new plan, she said drivers entering from Rosecrans will now have to go through a “maze” to find the Hacienda Building.
“This will significantly reduce patronization of the Hacienda Building because now they’re going into the northeast parking deck, they may find their way down to the lower culvert eventually and there are 67 fewer spaces there, so they’re not inclined to be parking close to the building,” Leitner said.
She accused RREEF of slowly modifying the site plan since December 2014 in a way that adversely impacts tenants of the Hacienda Building, who have been complaining and may sue the owners.
But RREEF and the city’s planning staff disagreed.
“There should be no ambiguity, if somebody wants to visit one of the establishments at the Hacienda, about where it is,” JLL Senior Vice President Phil Friedl said, showing slides of views of the building from the parking deck.
He stressed that the developer is working to execute the project “as quickly and as expeditiously as possible” to lessen impacts.
The council also was not convinced that the changes would hurt the Hacienda Building, voting unanimously to approve the plan adjustments.
Mayor David Lesser and Councilman Richard Montgomery, who served on the Planning Commission when the expansion was first proposed more than 10 years ago, said it’s time to get the project done.
“I just simply don’t agree with their allegations,” Lesser said. “I think this is a project the community is eager to get done so I am all in favor of moving forward.”