Two Candidates Oppose Planned Project : Beverly Hills: Council contenders don’t like development proposed for the city’s industrial area.

Two of the three candidates in the Beverly Hills City Council race say they strongly oppose a city proposal for office, hotel and retail development in the city’s industrial area.

If the proposal for 1.8 million square feet of development is approved, “it will forever strangle in traffic the area that surrounds it,” incumbent Councilman Robert K. Tanenbaum said of plans for the 43-acre area bounded by Civic Center and Maple drives, Beverly Boulevard, and the alley between 3rd Street and Burton Way.

“We really have to hold the line at the industrial area, it’s the last refuge in the city,” said Tanenbaum, speaking Monday before about 40 people and a cable television audience at a League of Women Voters’ candidates forum at Hawthorne School.

Tanenbaum, an attorney and author of four novels, added that he would like to see the area used for park and recreational purposes.

Challenger Trisha Roth said she would “prefer to see the least development possible” not only for the industrial area, but also for the rest of the city.

“I feel we are already overbuilt, and it’s starting to strangle us,” said Roth, a non-practicing pediatrician whose entry into the race prevented automatic reelections for Tanenbaum and Mayor Max Salter. “I think we need to have a moratorium on development.”

Salter did not take a stand on the city’s plans for the industrial area, but said the council is responsive and urged people to attend hearings on the project.

Although he defended the financial stability of Beverly Hills, Salter, owner of the statewide chain of Beno’s clothing stores, used the forum to criticize a recent council decision to raise $116 million by refinancing the city’s debt through a 30-year mortgage on its new Civic Center.

Salter said the refinancing, part of which will pay for cost overruns of at least $11 million on construction of the final phase of the center--would cost the city $80 million or more over the lifetime of the mortgage.

“It reminds me of the federal government--we’re going to spend $80 million to save money,” he said.

Tanenbaum, however, defended the decision, saying that without it, 10% of the General Fund for the next 30 years would go toward servicing the city’s debt.

Refinancing “puts some of the burden on the people who are going to enjoy the (new) Civic Center (in the future),” he said.

All three said they support the proposed parcel tax on residential and commercial property, which will be on the June 5 ballot, to raise money for Beverly Hills schools.