Whittier : Builders Criticize Proposed Standards as Too Restrictive

Proposed development standards are so restrictive that they would drive away business people trying to bring commerce to Whittier, said a handful of developers and merchants at a public hearing Tuesday night.

“Not every building owner is trying to get away with something,” said Philip Singerman, vice president of Norms Restaurants. Singerman and architect Victor Newlove arrived with their site plan for their proposed Whittier Boulevard restaurant.

The new standards would “make it difficult for us to build this building,” Newlove said.

The purpose of the hearing was to receive public comment on regulations that, if passed, would take effect at the Oct. 15 conclusion of a five-month moratorium on commercial developments of one acre or less. The moratorium was aimed specifically at mini-malls.

City Council members Bob Henderson and Helen McKenna-Rahder have maintained that poorly planned mini-malls destroy neighborhood character and lead to congestion and high vacancy rates. Both praised staff work on the new standards, which will be amended based on council and public concerns expressed at the hearing.

Councilman Robert Woehrmann said some proposed guidelines would penalize developers who own corner lots and that other standards were so inflexible that they would short-circuit imaginative building design.