Sport Chalet Seeks 2nd Extension for Shopping Center
Two years after winning an emotionally and politically charged battle to build the first major shopping center in La Canada Flintridge, the Sport Chalet is seeking a second delay because of the poor economy.
The retail sporting goods chain will ask the La Canada Flintridge City Council on July 6 for another one-year extension of a conditional-use permit to build a $25-million shopping center at Foothill Boulevard and Angeles Crest Highway, a company official said this week.
“We are asking the city to give us another year to decide what to do,” said Robert Haueter, vice president of marketing.
A one-year extension was granted last year after company officials said the poor economy and a lack of sufficient leases made it impossible to begin building. Those conditions have not changed, Haueter said. The current permit expires July 16.
The company is considering other alternatives, such as turning the project over to another developer or scaling down the size of the project to just a new store and company headquarters on the 11.7-acre site, Haueter said.
The Sport Chalet, which operates a dozen outlets in Southern California, usually leases property from other developers, as it is for a new store that it will open in late August in the Burbank Media City Center shopping mall. The La Canada Flintridge development would be the first built by the chain, which began in the community more than 30 years ago.
Other potential developers, including the Price Club and a separate group of investors, have proposed taking over the project. Haueter said there are no plans to sell the site but the company is “keeping its options open.”
When finally approved in 1990 after a six-year battle, the Sport Chalet plan was to set the tone and architectural style for new development along the Foothill Boulevard commercial strip. Many residents had fought the proposed 140,000-square-foot shopping village, saying it would be too big for the area of largely residential estates.
The controversy was a major issue in the 1990 City Council election, when candidates supporting the development won the council majority.
City Manager Gabrielle Pryor said officials are willing to consider alternative development plans for the site, including a scaled-down version. She said the issue may be discussed at the July 6 council meeting, to be held at 7:30 p.m. at Descanso Gardens.
