Temple City : Council OKs Impact Report

A final environmental impact report on commercial development at Las Tunas Drive and Rosemead Boulevard was unanimously approved for certification last week by the City Council acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency.

Critics of the proposal to build a shopping center at the northwest corner of the intersection have said the document is incomplete because it lacks specifics, such as the types of businesses that will occupy the proposed center.

If fully implemented, the complex will include 125,000 square feet of retail space, and yield an estimated $230,000 in sales tax annually, according to Parrington.

“The tax increment is a significant economic factor that warrants the certification of the EIR,” said City Manager Karl Koski. He said the added sales tax would make up 5% of city funds.

The redevelopment project area was designated in 1972 to increase sales taxes in the city, which collects no property tax, he said.

Sherry Passmore told the agency that a financial study should be prepared to determine how soon the city would get out of debt after implementing the project.

The city is still making bond payments for the 1974 redevelopment of the K-mart shopping center on the southwest corner of the same intersection. The community development director, Robert Dawson, said those payments would end in 1999.

The city has been discussing the new proposal with Long Beach-based Champion Development since May. The development agreement detailing financing and describing the major tenants of the shopping complex will be discussed at a regular City Council meeting Feb. 7.