BUENA PARK : City May Expand Tourist-Related Area

Business and property owners on La Palma Avenue east of the city’s entertainment hub on Beach Boulevard are wary about proposed plans to turn the area into one that encourages tourist-related commerce.

“I’m still a little apprehensive of what the city of Buena Park wants to do,” said Dale Quelle, who owns the Income Tax Store in a retail center on La Palma Avenue. “We think they want to get rid of us.”

The City Council on Monday night will hold a public hearing to consider a proposal to expand its Beach Boulevard entertainment corridor to include the south side of La Palma Avenue between Beach Boulevard and Stanton Avenue.

The plan’s aim is to enhance the visual appearance of the La Palma Avenue area, promote more pedestrian traffic and encourage tourist-oriented businesses.

The plan proposes to institute new guidelines for signs, to change the zoning from commercial uses to tourist and entertainment uses and to impose a Spanish colonial theme for building exteriors.

City officials say the plan reflects the importance of providing a pedestrian link between existing entertainment businesses on Beach Boulevard with nearby Buena Park Mall on La Palma Avenue.

“It will help tie together the entertainment uses to the mall--a linkage that we think is important because of the tourists who are visiting the entertainment activities and may have needs for shopping,” said Thomas E. Lynch, the city’s development services director.

The plan area, called the Paseo de Plaza subdistrict, covers 11 acres and 13 properties.

Business owners have expressed concerns to city officials about the fate of their businesses. But city officials said existing businesses won’t be forced out.

The plan’s intent over the long term is to encourage development of new businesses related to tourism such as restaurants, hotels and entertainment activities, Lynch said.

Most businesses in the area are not related to entertainment. They include a three-story office building of professional services as well as a beauty shop, tire center, travel agency, florist and other retail stores.

Hank Vierregger, owner of the 25-year-old Slomann Building at 8081 Stanton Ave., said he’s concerned about how rezoning the area for entertainment would affect his eight tenants, who include a dentist, attorney and accountant who have established practices in the community.

“We’re concerned primarily because of the question of the compatibility of an entertainment corridor and a professional office building,” Vierregger said.

Quelle said the small businesses are needed to serve residents.

“I’m here to serve the community and not the tourists--and that’s what the city planners need to focus on too,” he said.

Business and property owners said they favor improving the aesthetics of the area. But property owners said they have concerns about how the plan’s guidelines would affect any remodeling of their buildings. And, tenants said, if landlords make aesthetic improvements, the costs could trickle down to them in higher rents.

The proposed design theme would include the use of red tile roofs, bell tower features and arched windows to complement existing Spanish-style architecture.