Sport Chalet Fires Architect to Placate Expansion Foes

Hoping to head off opposition to a major expansion project, officials of the Sport Chalet sporting goods store in La Canada Flintridge this week dismissed an architect whose designs were criticized by residents and promised to build a more appealing project.

Sam Allen, chief executive officer of the store, told more than 100 people at a City Council meeting Monday that he has replaced Van Nuys architect Donald Picken with the Glendale firm of Feola Deenihan Archuleta Architects.

Allen said he has asked the Glendale firm to design a more aesthetically pleasing and innovative shopping center than that proposed by Picken, whose plans had been characterized by residents as a low-quality, strip-commercial mall.

In a well-prepared presentation to the City Council last month, residents asked the city to press Sport Chalet officials to build a tony, village-like square that could serve as a focal point of the community.

Allen said his decision to hire a new architect came after a meeting Friday with representatives of a citizens group, Residents for the Responsible Development of La Canada Flintridge. The group had collected more than 350 signatures on a petition opposing Picken’s design.

“We wanted a much stronger creative firm,” Allen said. “We’re going back to square one and really looking to create a village atmosphere.”

Larry Preble, a spokesman for the group, joined other residents and city officials at the council meeting in praising Allen’s decision. He said he looked forward to working closely with Sport Chalet to ensure that the new design is acceptable to the community.

“We support what they’re doing,” Preble said. “We wanted a user-friendly place, and I think with a new architect picked we’ll get one.”

City Councilman Ed Phelps, a longtime critic of the proposed development, called the store’s decision “a complete change of direction.” He and other City Council members said they have high hopes that the new architectural firm will design a more amenable project.

Sport Chalet’s plan to expand its successful sporting goods complex at the city’s main intersection has been controversial since it was first proposed more than five years ago. The store’s owners, Norbert and Irene Olberz, have proposed turning their 11.7-acre holdings--retail stores, commercial shops and about 25 adjoining houses--into a shopping center at Foothill Boulevard and Angeles Crest Highway.

Residents have staunchly fought the plans in the past, complaining that the project could mark the start of commercialization in the upscale, residential community

But several council members have long defended the right of the store to develop its property, saying Sport Chalet has pioneered the retailing of recreational goods for 30 years and contributed significant tax revenue to the city. And it wasn’t until last month’s presentation that city and Sport Chalet officials appeared receptive to the criticisms of residents.

Now the city and Sport Chalet are discussing ways to form a partnership that would increase city oversight on the project. On Monday, the City Council ordered city staff to propose suggestions on such a partnership.

Allen said he is eager to move the project along as fast as possible. He said a site plan for the project is expected to be completed by September.

The council directed the city staff to establish a preliminary deadline for city approval of the project. Detailed plans of the complex must be approved by the city’s Architectural Review Committee, Planning Commission and City Council. The plans will also be subject to several public hearings.