WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2002
FR EE
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Volume 1, Issue 44
Santa Monica Daily Press Serving Santa Monica for the past 52 days
City putting brakes on auto dealer zone Moving auto dealerships is an open ended question BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
Auto dealerships may be spread throughout the city in upcoming years, alleviating the pressures that neighborhoods off of Santa Monica Boulevard have dealt with for a long time. The Santa Monica City Council recently voted to look at other areas of the city that could accommodate auto dealerships and their service departments so they are not all on Santa Monica Boulevard, as they are now. The study, which the council will be updated on in February, will not look at a specific neighborhood, but rather many areas that could be zoned for auto dealerships. While the study may be general, Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown thinks the idea, which was brought forward by Santa Monica Mayor Michael Feinstein, is a valid one. However, he cautioned that it shouldn’t be directed at a particular area.
“This has the potential to be a truly visionary idea,” he said. “What I want to avoid us doing is having a section of the city think their future may somehow be compromised ... This city has a lot of small, locally owned, independently operated businesses that we should be trying to retain. How do we proceed with this without casting a pall over a part of the city ... but that we want to have vibrant and not have people think it’s going through a major change?” he asked. Feinstein agreed with McKeown and said his comments in the future will indicate that no specific areas are being targeted. However, one of the areas discussed by some people is Lincoln Boulevard. The neighborhoods north and south of Santa Monica Boulevard have dealt with a lack of parking, constant traffic on quiet streets and auto repair noise for years. The city tried to combat some of their concerns by enacting a preferential parking zone that allows residents park in their neighborhood to from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. But that only addressed some of their issues. Feinstein said he began discussing with the dealers about relocating some of their See DEALERS, page 3
New businesses come to Santa Monica Place BY CLAUDIA HIBBERT Special to the Daily Press
Consumers to Santa Monica’s downtown shopping district will soon have four new offerings at Santa Monica Place. Four new businesses, including Great Steak and Potato, Great Khan Mongolian Grill and China Inn in the mall’s food court, as well as Forever 21, an apparel shop that caters to young women, will set up shop at the mall “in the next week to two weeks,” said Charles Christensen, general manager of Santa Monica Place. “We have a number of food court and restaurant operators here on site,” Christensen added. “We just continue to upgrade our list of food court merchants to bring a better selection to the marketplace.” The addition of shops at the Santa Monica Place does not worry Kathleen Rawson, executive director of Bayside District, which manages the Promenade, located north of the indoor mall. A food court on the 1400 block of the Promenade closed about two years ago, and Bebe, a clothes shop, opened in its place. The food court later moved to another location at the outdoor marketplace. “It’s definitely a partnership. There’s no doubt about it,” Rawson said. “We know the majority of people who come to the district for shopping will shop in the Santa Monica Place and the Promenade and the entire downtown area. “Often times we combine marketing efforts and strategic planning to complement each other. There’s no way we would or could do it separately.”
Ross Furukawa/Daily Press
Vince Lombardo, a 10-year Santa Monica resident, finishes off his opponent in a heated match of ping pong at the Easton Gym on the Third Street Promenade.
2002 presents daunting choices in California BY JIM WASSERMAN Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO — After a year when Silicon Valley went bust, when four planes bound for California crashed in terror and even the lights wouldn’t stay on, 35 million Californians surely have one question about 2002. What next? In a state that’s never been for the timid, the faint of heart or those who worry and look back, the top electrical utility, PG&E, says it’s bankrupt. A state budget bigger than that of most nations is $12 billion short. And an economy
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said to be the world’s fifth largest, bigger than France and rich in farming, silicon chips and movies filled with action and love, is misfiring. Happy New Year at the edge of the continent. For much of 2001, California appeared to the nation like some poor, faraway nation with unsolvable problems and an unpronounceable name. Along with its familiar earthquakes, forest fires, medflies, riots, hot weather and smog, California watchers added the ominous spectacle of “blackouts.” Describing the economy heading into See STATE, page 3
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