Proposed Retail Complex Scrapped After Council Vote

The developer of a proposed multimillion dollar 14-screen movie and retail complex in east Pasadena has declared the project dead after the Pasadena City Council on Monday night approved construction plans but required that the cinema be located at a site that the builder said was unacceptable.

The council, led by Vice Mayor Chris Holden, voted to approve permits for the complex and required that the theater be located on Foothill Boulevard between Sierra Madre Boulevard and Villa Avenue, where the developer wanted to put the retail stores Best Buy and Ross Dress for Less.

“With that motion, it’s a dead deal,” said developer Ira Smedra.

Moments after the vote, Smedra reminded the city’s redevelopment director that Best Buy wanted the Foothill Boulevard frontage and therefore the project was doomed.

Homeowners had voiced strong opposition to plans calling for the theater complex to be located closer to homes on the north side of the 300,000-square-foot Hastings Village Shopping Center.

More than 120 people attended the three-hour council hearing to decide the fate of the project. Residents warned of a Las Vegas-style mall with thousands of noisy people and polluting cars near their homes.

“You’re turning a suburban tree-lined street into a cross between Vegas and Santa Monica Pier,” said Martin Spicer, whose home is in the shadow of the proposed complex.

Holden asked Smedra about the consequences if the theater was moved from the south end of the project to front on Foothill.

“The fact of the matter is we wouldn’t retain our retailers.” said Smedra, explaining that frontage on the busy street was a must for those businesses. “I am not crying wolf. We couldn’t do it.”

Councilman William E. Thomson Jr. said he shared Holden’s view and the pair joined Mayor William Paparian, who districts includes the development, in refusing to overturn the zoning board.