San Gabriel Valley : Neighbors Seek to Block Discount Store

A group of Pasadena residents say their neighborhood is too ritzy for a discount store.

In opposition to a Ross Dress for Less store, which is a possible tenant for a building planned at South Lake Avenue and San Pasqual Street, neighbors have collected about 1,000 petition signatures.

“South Lake is a really upscale, trendy area,” said Leslie Levy, a Madison Heights Assn. member who lives nearby. “Just recently, we’ve got some nice stores here, and this would really set us back. . . . Everybody in Madison Heights who I’ve talked to is opposed to this.”

While South Lake Avenue is already home to one discount clothing store, Levy said another one could bring down real estate values in the area.

The vacant lot is being developed into a one-tenant store by Champion Development Group of West Los Angeles. President Robert Champion said Ross is the front-runner of four possible tenants. And he said he was shocked to find so much resistance after a quiet 15-month zoning approval process.

“I think it’s just snobbery,” Champion said. Across the nation, he said, even in the most well-to-do areas, discount stores such as Ross are “a necessary ingredient to a successful shopping district.”

Some city officials, while not thrilled at the prospect of a discount retailer, said South Lake Avenue needs more business.

“We don’t feel that we have any right to tell anyone who they can and cannot rent to,” said Rita Elshout, the field representative for City Councilman Bill Thomson.

Ross spokeswoman Katie Loughnot declined to comment on the specific case, but pointed out that the chain has more than 55 stores in the Los Angeles area--and more on the way.