Rosemead OKs Standards for Mini-Malls

ROSEMEAD — A 17-month-old moratorium on mini-mall construction citywide moved a step closer to being lifted Tuesday when the City Council unanimously approved measures requiring conditional use permits for mini-malls and setting standards for their development.

Under the proposed regulations, the building’s architecture will have to be consistent with, if not complement, the surrounding neighborhood, and the city planning director will decide if a developer must present a report detailing ways to mitigate potential increases in traffic.

The moratorium was imposed last year because “we became concerned about the proliferation of mini-malls” in Rosemead and neighboring cities, Assistant City Manager Don Wagner said.

Some Already Built

Five or six mini-malls had already been built in Rosemead when the moratorium took effect, Planning Director Gary Chicots said. The action halted construction of two more that were nearing approval.

The new ordinance sets strict height limitations relative to neighboring buildings when the development abuts residential zones. This would eliminate drastic height changes if a mall is built next to a home, Chicots told the council.

Another measure to protect homeowners is the requirement that all doors, windows, stairways and other openings facing a low- or medium-density residential zone must be screened if they are above the first floor and within 65 feet of the property line.

The ratio of retail, office and restaurant uses intended must be included in the conditional use permit application, and each commercial suite must have at least 1,000 square feet.

Landscaping Standards

Landscaping standards are also set, including a certain number of shade trees to be required at the planning director’s discretion.

If the ordinance is adopted at the council’s next meeting on Jan. 10, the new measures would go into effect within 30 days. The moratorium would be repealed at that time, Chicots said.

Describing the legislation as just another piece of the city’s “multifaceted approach to regulate development,” Wagner said several ordinances have been enacted to that end over the last two years.

A moratorium on motel construction was lifted after four months last year, when the City Council adopted an ordinance requiring a minimum lot of 40,000 square feet for a motel. Previously, motels were being built on lots as small as 10,000 square feet.

The minimum lot size for medium-density residential lots has been increased from 3,000 to 4,500 square feet, while parking requirements for restaurants have also been increased.