FILLMORE : Decision Slated on Disputed Mini-Mall

The Fillmore City Council is expected to make a final decision tonight on a proposed shopping center that was denied twice by the city’s Planning Commission.

Developer Joel Block and architect LeRoy Andrews submitted the latest plan for the 18,000-square-foot mini-mall--near California 126 and B Street--to the council in January. They asked the council to approve a new version of the project without sending it back to the Planning Commission, saying that commissioners had not given clear instructions on how to make the project acceptable.

The council delayed its decision until tonight to allow city planners time to review the revised project plan.

Some planning commissioners deny that they failed to communicate their wishes. During a special joint session last week with the City Council, commissioners said Andrews had ignored their suggestions.

A few commissioners said the project should have been returned to them because the version presented to the council was entirely new, and they were concerned that the council was taking on Planning Commission responsibilities.

They were assured by City Manager Roy Payne that the council was acting within its authority.

City planners said Monday that they would recommend approval of the revised project, with some minor changes. The mini-mall, proposed for the south side of California 126, is in a commercial zone but borders a housing tract.

Location of the building in relation to the residential area has been a concern that planning officials said had not been entirely resolved.