SHERMAN OAKS : Fashion Square Proposal Gets Mixed Reaction

Local residents expressed mixed reactions to the proposed expansion of the Sherman Oaks Fashion Square shopping mall at a zoning hearing Monday.

Of 100 people who attended the hearing at the Sherman Oaks Woman’s Club, about 40% appeared to be opposed, roughly 40% seemed supportive, and the rest did not express an opinion, said Los Angeles hearing examiner Eric Ritter.

Fashion Square wants to do a $20-million expansion that would increase the size of the mall by nearly 20%. Its owners hope to attract an upscale department store to replace the I. Magnin that left the mall late last year.

On Monday, after hearing a presentation by mall representatives and comments from residents, Ritter said he would review the information and make a recommendation to the Planning Commission in about three weeks.

Critics of the project say the expansion will exacerbate existing problems of air pollution, traffic and noise created by the mall.

“I think the current problems are going to get worse,” said Patricia Boyd, who lives on nearby Stern Avenue.

Boyd said that traffic on Riverside Drive next to the mall is always backed up because of trucks stopping to load and unload merchandise.

“Unfortunately, the mall is already built out,” said Allen Abshez, who represented the mall owner, City Freeholds USA. “We bought it with those things in place--we can’t change it with a finger snap. It’s something we work on constantly to make sure we are not a nuisance to the neighborhood.”

“I feel good about it (the hearing),” said Abshez, who said that the complaints of project critics were mostly related to the current operations of the mall rather than the proposed expansion.