The Arden Arcade Community Planning Advisory Council (AACPAC) met this evening to hear public comments about a 4 story self-storage facility proposed by a Santa Monica corporation that wants to build where the Saving Center has been rotting away on Watt Ave. for lo these many years. We don't know anyone who thinks the Saving Center eyesore is cool. But with County's mantra that "something is better than nothing",  it is not unusual that the replacement is less than stellar.                               

Six members of the public attended, as did three people that were there on behalf of the applicant. Not a one of the six community members spoke in favor of the project. Their opposition was based on the project being a use unsuited for that part of the community, for its bulk and height, for being too big for the site, for adversely impacting nearby properties, and for being yet another self-storage project in a community that has no shortage of self-storage facilities. One of the speakers against the project said the applicant's requests to not comply with development standards could not be granted because of a state law against doing that.

After hearing the consistent public opposition, the AACPAC voted to approve the project. Thing is, being just an advisory body, the AACPAC does not have any authority to approve a project. CPACs are supposed to gather public input about proposed projects and feed the information to the County Planning Commission. In this case, the AACPAC should tell the Planning Commission that people clearly do not want the project to be approved. They are not supposed to act like wannabe decision-makers, like little gods oblivious to public testimony. Instead of paying attention to the public, the AACPAC acts like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is famous for ignoring the public while being cozy with those they are supposed to regulate.

As one of our readers commented to us today:

The County staff people there said they don't know when the County Planning Commission will take up the item. So, if you have thoughts on the project, consider calling Supervisor Rich Desmond at (916) 874-5471 and/or emailing him at richdesmond@saccounty.gov.