Calstar shows expansion plans

GLENDALE — Architect Gary Whitfield unveiled plans Wednesday to expand Calstar Mercedes-Benz by more than 170,000 square feet with a proposed parking structure and service center.

Whitfield, head architect at Whitfield Associates Inc., showed off the plans for a new 96,000-square-foot service center and a four-level, 92,000-square-foot parking structure — next to the current 17,000-square-foot showroom — during the weekly Zoning Administrator hearing.

Plans also include a bridge to connect the proposed structures, greater noise reduction measures for nearby residents and improvements in the existing showroom at 700 S. Brand Blvd.

Mercedes-Benz executives requested the proposed expansion, which comes amid continued economic turmoil for many automobile dealerships on Brand Boulevard, Whitfield said.

Officials with the high-end dealership requested that Calstar owners “upgrade to comply with new image and spatial requirements for all dealers,” Whitfield said.

“The owner wants to expand at the current site and not move; that’s why we’re developing vertically and not horizontally,” he said. “We’re building land, not buying land.”

The hearing allowed city officials, namely Principal City Planner Laura Stotler — who assumed control of the deliberation after Zoning Administrator Edith Fuentes recused herself — to ask about the project and present Whitfield with a list of issues city departments have with the proposal.

Fuentes leases a car from Calstar Mercedes, which could present a possible conflict of interest if she had presided over the hearing, she said.

Some of the concerns from city officials included questions from the Public Works and Police departments.

Officials with public works worried that construction would result in a loss of up to 15 trees on Brand Boulevard and Maple Street while police asked that Mercedes employees not use a public speaker system within the dealership after residents complained of the noise.

Whitfield assured Stotler that new trees would be planted and that Calstar employees do not use a public address system anymore — preferring more personalized modes of paging one another — despite contentions to the contrary from residents at the hearing.

David O’ Connor, who owns two residential properties east of the dealership, said the dealership still uses the public paging system, evidenced by complaints he received from tenants. O’ Connor also pushed for the dealership to better manage supply deliveries. Large trucks that drop off new cars, he said, “block the street for extended periods from five minutes to three hours.”

“They’re offloading constantly, which is fine, except they’re blocking traffic,” he said.

Whitfield said much of O’Connor’s concerns will be alleviated by the proposed service center, where trucks will be asked to deliver goods off Brand Boulevard.

Currently, officials are hamstrung by a common entry point on Maple Street that prohibits new car deliverers and clogs the entrance, backing up traffic, Whitfield said.

“We know that’s the biggest problem” he said. “We’re trying to spread out as much as we can.”

Whitfield also plans to construct a new service entrance for customers at the proposed maintenance center, accessible by Brand Boulevard, to alleviate what is expected to be 30,000 new trips per day on the city’s main thoroughfare from increased customer levels.

“But the project is not expected to cause any adverse traffic related impacts,” Stotler said.

Stotler is not expected to issue a decision on the matter until after Nov. 13, when the public comment period on the project’s environmental impacts ends.

If Stotler approves the project, it will then go in front of the Design Review Board for final consideration.

 JEREMY OBERSTEIN covers business, politics and the foothills. He may be reached at (818) 637-3215 or by e-mail at jeremy.oberstein@latimes.com.