Group Weighs Plans for Boulevard Plaza

City officials, area residents and developers met informally this week to discuss changes made to plans for a redevelopment project on Ventura Boulevard.

A group, spearheaded by the Studio City Residents Assn., is questioning some new inclusions in the project to redevelop the Sports Plaza near Whitsett Avenue that the residents say will go against the goals of the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan.

In 1997, the city approved a developer’s plans to construct a new building on the boulevard and expand two others, including the Staples and the Bed ‘n’ Bath locations.

However, changes in the plans, including a new front-door location for Bed ‘n’ Bath and the addition of a city-required transformer that affects the size of parking spaces, prompted association and city officials to call the meeting with landscape architect Rick Mayer and building architect Dick Huddleson.

“We felt the changes went against some of the things we liked in the original plan and we expressed that,” said Tony Lucente, association president.

“The developers have been cooperative about the whole thing and we’re working to iron things out.”

Lucente said, as a result of the meeting, the businesses agreed to make some aesthetic changes to their buildings that would be more in line with the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan, which promotes a pedestrian-friendly shopping environment.

Those changes include the addition of a newsstand in front of Staples and a new window at Bed ‘n’ Bath that, Lucente said, “opens up the whole face of the building.”

The two sides agreed to meet again and, in the meantime, explore ways to continue to improve the plans, Lucente said.

“This is a community that is very concerned with the impact of the project,” Mayer said.

“It’s great to see that kind of involvement. It’s been a great process.”