It’s Showtime in Debate Over Movie Theaters : Referendum: Backers see Tuesday vote as a wake-up call for a slumbering downtown. Foes envision a nightmare of congestion and blight.

Residents will decide next week the fate of a proposed downtown movie theater complex, a vote regarded by officials and activists on both sides of the issue as a referendum on Downey’s future.

Supporters of the proposed development say the 2,500-seat, 10- to 12-screen theater would entertain residents and revive an economically slumbering downtown. Opponents call the city-subsidized project a bad deal that would create traffic snarls and act as a magnet for out-of-town gang members.

The Tuesday referendum will ask voters to decide on two related measures. A “yes” vote on Measure A would change downtown zoning to permit a theater complex. A “yes” vote on Measure B would approve the city’s tentative agreement with Southern California cinema developer George Krikorian to build his proposed project.

If only Measure A passes, the Krikorian proposal is dead, but the city can pursue other plans for a downtown cinema. The city has no first-run movie theaters.

A “yes” vote on both measures affirms the city’s decision to sell 2.13 acres in the heart of downtown Downey for $1 to Krikorian. Krikorian, in turn, would spend an estimated $10 million to build the theater and a free public parking garage.

The agreement received City Council support in November, but was put on hold when more than 5,400 residents, about 1,300 more than necessary, signed petitions calling for the referendum. Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Theater complex opponent Larry Squire, who led the petition drive for the referendum, said the city wants to give away too much to the developer.

The city spent $1.3 million to acquire the land it is providing to Krikorian. In addition, the city has agreed to refund to Krikorian the city’s share of property taxes generated by the theater, an estimated $1.42 million over the 30-year agreement.

“We’re taking a profit-making, free-enterprise business and subsidizing it for the next 30 years with taxpayer dollars,” Squire said. “Once it gets built, there’s no turning back.” As the election nears, theater opponents have turned up the rhetoric and simplified the message.

“Stop-Stop-Stop!” says an anti-theater flyer in large black letters, repeated on four lines. The flyer, one of several distributed throughout town, calls the project a “$3-million giveaway,” talks of the city selling a downtown block for $1 and implies that the project would result in higher taxes. “Stop-Stop-Stop the Giveaway,” the flyer concludes.

The flyer has infuriated project supporters, who accuse opponents of using scare tactics.

“They’re all lies,” Brian Gasdia said of the statements in the flyer. Gasdia, a city planning commissioner and local attorney, heads a committee formed to lobby residents to vote for the project.

The group has distributed flyers and an endorsement list, which includes some members of the Downey school board and the Downey Chamber of Commerce. The group also has sent out mailers, including one that landed on 27,000 doorsteps, Gasdia said.

Supporters say the theaters would improve local business by bringing potential customers downtown and attract new restaurants and other businesses.

“Schools, businesses, seniors, young people, and everyone in between will reap the benefits of this economic revival,” a mailer states. “No longer will we have to drive several miles each way for a family night out, or to drop off the kids and grandkids, just to see a movie.”

Gasdia estimated that project supporters will spend about $20,000 getting their message to Downey’s 39,858 registered voters. Organizers raised the money through small donations and a $7,000 bank loan.

Squire said his anti-theater group will spend about $10,000--primarily from small donations--for the petition and referendum campaigns.

Diane Shayne, a waitress at Cowboy’s Cafe, is concerned about the proposed complex. “I have a tendency to think the theater (complex) will bring gang members and graffiti,” she said. “Who’s going to pay for damages?”

Will moviegoers “come to our restaurant? I don’t think so. They sell food in theaters.”

But Kyuba Keisuke, an assistant manager at the Sambi of Tokyo restaurant, supports the project. “I like to see the movies,” he said. “And maybe on the way home, people will stop by here.”

City staff members said they are officially neutral, but Assistant City Manager Lee Powell defended the city’s deal with Krikorian. The city had discussions with various theater operators and Krikorian’s offer was the best, Powell said.

One selling point is Krikorian’s willingness to build a public 355-space parking garage, but even that has become part of the controversy.

Opponents insisted the garage will not offer enough parking and that the development will create traffic jams.

Mayor Diane Boggs, who has been a lukewarm theater supporter, said traffic congestion will be a problem. Nonetheless, she urged voters to support the project at the polls.

Boggs said developers will view Downey as a bad place to do business if the Krikorian deal falls through.

Development opponents also have pointed out that city codes require about 830 parking places for a 2,500-seat theater. Officials waived the requirement on the grounds that it was outdated.

The parking code section dates from the 1950s, said Art Rangel, the city’s community development director. At the time, the typical theater had one large screen and regular sellout crowds.

Modern multiplexes turn a profit by offering a variety of movies with varying start times in small theaters. Such an approach can result in steady business, but almost always leaves many empty seats at any given time. Therefore, less parking is needed, Rangel said.

Rangel added that their are numerous downtown parking areas that are used lightly at night and on weekends, when theater business would peak.

Even during business hours, the city’s current municipal lot, which has 102 spaces is only about 16% full, Rangel said.

Rangel said the downtown area has been declining since the late 1950s, when retailers began moving to Downey’s Stonewood Center Mall. In the ‘50s, the downtown area had two 800-seat, first-run theaters. One theater has since been demolished; the other movie house, the Avenue, currently screens recent releases and classics for $1.50.

Downtown became even quieter when the county transferred its courthouse operations to a new location in the late 1980s. The city purchased the courthouse property for $1.3 million with a plan to redevelop downtown.

Voters must now decide if the Krikorian bid is the right one. The complex would be built on Second Street between La Reina Avenue and New Street.

Some critics have challenged Krikorian’s track record. In Pasadena, for example, he became embroiled in a five-year legal battle with the city over a proposed cinema development. The litigation resulted in part from a dispute over who was responsible for the project’s escalating costs.

When the city pulled the plug on the partially constructed development, Krikorian sued for breach of contract. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge recently ruled that the suit against Pasadena was without merit.

In Whittier, some residents have complained that Krikorian’s multiplex at the Whittwood Mall is too close to their homes and has caused noise, traffic and graffiti problems.

But the evidence is not altogether damning. Other residents who live in the Whittwood area said they like the theater complex. They added that theater managers have responded to neighborhood concerns by increasing security.

Diamond Bar is among the cities that is satisfied with Krikorian theaters. The cinemas are well-maintained and draw customers to surrounding businesses, city manager Terrence Belanger said.

Community Correspondents Suzan Schill and Phillip Garcia contributed to this story.