ELYSIAN PARK : Council Expected to OK Warehouse
The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday to approve construction of a warehouse complex near the northwest entrance to Elysian Park, a project that some community members have fought for more than five years.
Secretary Coffee Service, a 21-year-old company that supplies coffee, machines, filters and related items to commercial offices, is seeking to build a distribution center at 1800 Riverside Drive. The company is requesting a zoning change to allow commercial manufacturing in the neighborhood.
Although the company has agreed to reduce the size of its buildings and leave 9.5 acres undeveloped for potential use as a community garden, some residents remain opposed.
“The project is still huge,” said Sallie Neubauer, an opponent and president of Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park. Neubauer said she fears that the zoning change would open the door to other large construction projects.
Neubauer and others expressed suspicion that the company intends to sell the property to another developer once zoning changes have been approved.
But Don Stoulil, president of Secretary, said he is committed to the warehouse project.
The proposal includes three buildings with 141,000 square-feet of warehouse and office space--a reduction from five buildings and 182,000 square-feet.
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