Plaza Developer Files Appeals on Zoning

The developer of the proposed Studio City Plaza shopping center has appealed a decision that would limit the operating hours of businesses to be located on 100,000 square feet of land that now contains the Racquet Centre, a representative of the developer said Monday.

The appeal is one of many issues that has led developer Von Der Ahe Property Co. to delay the closing of the public tennis facility for a couple more months, said Pauline Amond, a legislative advocate for VDA Property.

The developer had originally planned to close the Racquet Centre, the largest such facility in the Valley, early this month.

“It will probably be open a couple of more months and it will probably be four to six months before construction begins,” Amond said. “The appeal and other planning-associated issues tend to hold up projects.”

In an appeal filed late last week, VDA asked the city Board of Zoning Appeals to reconsider a decision made by associate zoning administrator Leonard S. Levine at a May 29 public hearing to limit the operating hours of stores in the shopping complex.

VDA also appealed Levine’s decision to hold additional public hearings on liquor permits for the proposed restaurants.

The Board of Zoning Appeals has 60 days to decided on VDA’s request, Amond said.