Cineplex Sails Through Approval Process in Santa Paula

While giant exhibitors have been struggling against opposition to proposed movie theaters in Camarillo, a relatively small Honolulu-based firm has quietly sailed through the approval process and is about to build a 1,300-seat multiscreen complex in downtown Santa Paula.

The seven-screen multiplex, to be called Santa Paula Center 7 Cinemas, should be completed no later than November at a cost of more than $1 million, reports Scott C. Wallace, president and chief executive of Wallace Theatre Corp., a family-owned concern that operates a total of 40 screens in Hawaii, California and Nevada.

“We had no problems at all. Everybody was extremely cooperative,” Wallace said. “Our impression is that the people of that area--Santa Paula, Fillmore and Saticoy--are anxious to have a place to go for entertainment. I don’t recall anybody objecting to the project.”

In the seven months since the Hawaiian company first opened discussions with city officials and property owners, almost all official paperwork on the project has been completed.

The main hurdle remaining for the project between Harvard Boulevard and Main Street is a conditional use permit. “We’ve promised them an answer within two weeks of the time they show us their final drawings,” said Ken R. Cott, Santa Paula’s economic development director. He believes that the cineplex could open as early as this summer.

Wallace, whose firm’s California locations include Malibu, Barstow and South Lake Tahoe, credits Cott and the city’s Redevelopment Agency with expediting permits for the cinema project.

The complex, which will employ 25 to 30 people, will show first-run films in a market of nearly 10,000 people.

In contrast to Wallace’s experience, two much larger exhibitors--United Artists Entertainment Co. and Edwards Theatres Circuit--have encountered problems for more than a year in their plans to enter the neighboring Camarillo market.

A third exhibitor, Mann Theatre Corp., has had less difficulty, although some industry observers doubt that there’s room for more than one new multiplex in Camarillo.

The hottest battle has been over the plan of United Artists and its contractor, Pardee Construction Co., to build an 11-screen complex in eastern Camarillo.

After much wrangling, Pardee and city officials have reached a compromise over one of the final issues--parking controls.

But nearby residents say they may go to court to halt the project.

Camarillo’s Airport Authority opposed Edwards’ 12-screen complex because, panel members said, its proposed location between Las Posas Road and Carmen Drive is too close to Camarillo Airport. The authority was overruled by the City Council.

In can-do Santa Paula, Cott and other officials recently lured Power Built Alternators & Starters, an automotive parts rebuilder that may employ hundreds of people.

Next, Cott wants to recruit “a nice sit-down restaurant.” Along with a movie theater, that’s what folks want most, he said.