San Gabriel : Meeting on Land Use

The City Council will hold a special meeting with the Planning Commission tonight to discuss land-use issues.

The two groups meet at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall council chambers.

Topping the list will be the city’s strategy for luring new businesses through redevelopment. The council has been bogged down trying to decide which areas to study as a first step toward any redevelopment projects. Some residents have expressed fear that their neighborhoods will be included.

The panels also are slated to discuss whether the city needs special rules to govern commercial condominiums now that it has received its first proposal for such a development. No other area community has special commercial condominium rules, according to a Planning Department survey, but some San Gabriel officials have proposed setting minimum store size requirements as a way to prevent vacancies.

Also up for discussion is the future of the block bounded by New Avenue, Valley Boulevard, Abbot Avenue and Bencamp Street. There has been disagreement over whether the area, a mix of commercial and residential uses, should be zoned strictly commercial.