LA HABRA : Mayor Appeals OK of AM/PM Market

More than 250 residents have vowed to fight a 12-pump gas station and mini-market in their neighborhood by taking their complaints to City Hall.

Mayor William D. Mahoney appealed on Wednesday a 3-2 Planning Commission decision made earlier this week approving the AM/PM convenience store and Arco service station.

“People were shocked at that vote,” said Tim Aragon, who lives in the Lindauer and Laguna neighborhood behind the proposed development.

City Council members are scheduled to hear the appeal at their Nov. 18 meeting.

If the council does not overturn the Planning Commission’s decision, construction will begin within months at 2051 Whittier Blvd.

But because Mahoney filed the appeal himself, residents who had planned to appeal the decision said they believe they now have a fighting chance.

“I think this is great,” said Sonya Longbotham, 30, who grew up in the neighborhood behind the project site. Mahoney’s move “shows the residents that (the council) is actually considering us.”

She said most of the residents fear that burglaries, robberies and vehicle accidents will increase if the market and gas station are built. “It’s just a bad location for that type of operation,” she said.

Longbotham said she informally polled 113 of her neighbors and determined that 95% oppose the development and the other 5% have no opinion. She also gave the Planning Commission a petition signed by 287 residents opposed to the project.

“Cars will cut through our streets on their way to the gas station, and that could cause accidents and make it dangerous for the kids who walk to school,” said Fred Robertson, who has lived in his Laguna Drive home since it was built 40 years ago. He added that the 24-hour market, which has been given approval to sell alcohol, will bring people who may loiter and litter the area.

The city’s traffic and planning commissions did not agree.

Neither does the project’s applicant, Jim Litchfield.

“I’m making a substantial investment in the community,” he said. “The city will benefit with jobs and revenue. . . . I’m concerned about the City Council but optimistic that it will agree with the planning and traffic commissions that this is a project very much needed in the city of La Habra.”

He said that about 12 people would be employed and that the city would receive about $50,000 a year in sales tax revenue.

Mahoney said he filed the appeal so that the council would have a chance to review the project and make the final decision.

“I’m not saying I’m against (the project) or in favor of it,” he said. “But we need to look at it.”

Gene R. LaBlond, one of the planning commissioners who voted against the project, said he did so because he felt it was inappropriate for the area. “I just don’t feel it belongs there,” he said. “The people don’t want it and they were there first.”