DRAFT 1
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by Andrew Chang and Ashley Chi
Rick Caruso, developer of the Grove of Anaheim, has had his eye on the Santa Anita racetrack for quite some time—since 2005, to be exact. But with Westfield’s new plans to expand into 13,500 feet of restaurant space at its outdoor Promenade, Caruso Affiliated may now see a bit of a roadblock in its newest entrepreneurial venture. On August 20, 2009, Caruso sued both the city and Westfield, demanding an environmental impact report for the conversion of such a large area into restaurant space.
Caruso Affiliated is not totally unfamiliar with Westfield. The battle began when Caruso proposed an upscale mall to be named the Shops at Santa Anita at the Santa Anita racetrack. Caruso hosted festivals and meet-and-greets, gaining approval from most, but rejection from one: Westfield Santa Anita, the company who had built a 1.3 million square foot shopping mall a mere hundred yards away from Caruso’s proposed retail space.
Back in 2008, Caruso’s project filed its mandatory Environmental Impact Report—which was judged to be problematic in eleven areas. Westfield appealed on an additional eighteen points, creating a total of twenty-nine necessary revisions before Caruso’s project could move forward. The city, however, maintained that the expansion of restaurant space by Westfield would not require another EIR report. Caruso Affiliated stepped in here, citing “significant air quality, sewage, waste, water, population, land use and parking impacts” and forcing Westfield to play on what Caruso officials call a “level playing ground.”
Their battle by no means limited itself to the courtroom. Westfield started a group called Arcadia First in 2006: a group of Arcadia residents and business owners against Caruso’s plans for the Shops at Santa Anita. Arcadia First mailed out brochures and leaflets to Arcadians, delineating the possible environmental ramifications of the Shops at Santa Anita. On the other side of the battle, Caruso held a “Year of the Pig” festival at the Santa Anita racetrack for Arcadia’s large Chinese-American community, hosted get-togethers with Arcadia’s major home owner associations, the Chamber of Commerce, and the police and firefighters associations, and hosted a complementary date night for 3,000 people. Of the two companies, freshman Anna Wang states, “I think that it is a waste of valuable time and money for these two companies to sue each other. They are doing so on a basis of greed and competition.
Legally, the impacts of this controversy could be detrimental to both Caruso and Westfield. So much is certain. But on the contextual level of the local residents, it’s an entirely different story. “Arcadia was supposed to be called the Community of Homes,” remarked junior Ray Chao, “not a tourist attraction.” “Our mall already brings in enough revenue,” agreed sophomore Farihah Chowdhury, “and I’ve so far been disappointed with the level of congestion which has occurred in these past few years.” In short, the public sentiment seems to support neither Caruso nor Westfield—and rather seems to contend that Arcadia needed no more malls in the first place.
Arcadia’s main source of revenue could very well become one of its main sources of controversy in the coming months.
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by Andrew Chang and Ashley Chi
Rick Caruso, developer of the Grove of Anaheim, has had his eye on the Santa Anita racetrack for quite some time—since 2005, to be exact. But with Westfield’s new plans to expand into 13,500 feet of restaurant space at its outdoor Promenade, Caruso Affiliated may now see a bit of a roadblock in its newest entrepreneurial venture. On August 20, 2009, Caruso sued both the city and Westfield, demanding an environmental impact report for the conversion of such a large area into restaurant space.
Caruso Affiliated is not totally unfamiliar with Westfield. The battle began when Caruso proposed an upscale mall to be named the Shops at Santa Anita at the Santa Anita racetrack. Caruso hosted festivals and meet-and-greets, gaining approval from most, but rejection from one: Westfield Santa Anita, the company who had built a 1.3 million square foot shopping mall a mere hundred yards away from Caruso’s proposed retail space.
Back in 2008, Caruso’s project filed its mandatory Environmental Impact Report—which was judged to be problematic in eleven areas. Westfield appealed on an additional eighteen points, creating a total of twenty-nine necessary revisions before Caruso’s project could move forward. The city, however, maintained that the expansion of restaurant space by Westfield would not require another EIR report. Caruso Affiliated stepped in here, citing “significant air quality, sewage, waste, water, population, land use and parking impacts” and forcing Westfield to play on what Caruso officials call a “level playing ground.”
Their battle by no means limited itself to the courtroom. Westfield started a group called Arcadia First in 2006: a group of Arcadia residents and business owners against Caruso’s plans for the Shops at Santa Anita. Arcadia First mailed out brochures and leaflets to Arcadians, delineating the possible environmental ramifications of the Shops at Santa Anita. On the other side of the battle, Caruso held a “Year of the Pig” festival at the Santa Anita racetrack for Arcadia’s large Chinese-American community, hosted get-togethers with Arcadia’s major home owner associations, the Chamber of Commerce, and the police and firefighters associations, and hosted a complementary date night for 3,000 people. Of the two companies, freshman Anna Wang states, “I think that it is a waste of valuable time and money for these two companies to sue each other. They are doing so on a basis of greed and competition.
Legally, the impacts of this controversy could be detrimental to both Caruso and Westfield. So much is certain. But on the contextual level of the local residents, it’s an entirely different story. “Arcadia was supposed to be called the Community of Homes,” remarked junior Ray Chao, “not a tourist attraction.” “Our mall already brings in enough revenue,” agreed sophomore Farihah Chowdhury, “and I’ve so far been disappointed with the level of congestion which has occurred in these past few years.” In short, the public sentiment seems to support neither Caruso nor Westfield—and rather seems to contend that Arcadia needed no more malls in the first place.
Arcadia’s main source of revenue could very well become one of its main sources of controversy in the coming months.