Article by Chris Boyd
Peninsula News – Thursday, November 16, 2006

It takes a village to raise their ire

● Prominent RPV official, residents question project, but RHE representatives say there’s a long road ahead.

RHE — Plans to turn Deep Valley Drive and portions of Silver Spur Road in downtown Rolling Hills Estates into a European-style village complete with high-density condominiums, apartments, offices and small businesses have received mixed reviews since being introduced more than three years ago.
This week, RHE officials gave residents a chance to comment about the next phase of the project during a special Monday night meeting. Nearly 60 people showed up, and some expressed concerns about the currently circulating draft environmental impact report for the Peninsula Village Overlay Zone, which proposes a maximum density of 40 residential units per acre (up from 22), allowing for 900 total dwelling units. It also would permit commercial development of 2.3 million square feet.
Among those with major worries is Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor Steve Wolowicz, who said he spoke as a concerned resident, not a city official. “We think that the burden of congestion and traffic will probably be borne more by the citizens of Rancho Palos Verdes,” he told the News on Tuesday. “The greatest negative impact is likely to befall our residents, and that’s why we’re so concerned about this.”
Many RPV residents living on streets like Silver Arrow Drive and Golden Arrow Drive are close to RHE’s business district. Silver Arrow connects with Silver Spur directly across from the Peninsula Shopping Center.
“Everyone is so concerned about traffic, pollution and why the city is doing this,” Golden Arrow resident Joyce Zurnacian said in an interview with the News Wednesday. “What the city wants is to make this urban, and the people don’t want that.”
Zurnacian and other residents have worries about land stability on both little Silver Spur, where the Original Red Onion restaurant is located, and Deep Valley. “Because there is a slippage of land behind the Red Onion, people are saying, Why are you continuing to build?” Zurnacian said.
Also, Zurnacian fears that more construction downtown could cause landslides like the one that forced the closure of many Deep Valley offices, including the Peninsula News, in 1997. The collapsed hillside still lies in disrepair covered by plastic. “It’s really an eyesore,” she said. “The city should do something about the existing problems first. Why did this land slide on Deep Valley?”
Wolowicz said the city’s plans call for too much density. During the last 10 years, he added, RPV has averaged construction of about 40 dwelling units a year — those 400 units are still less than half of the 900 proposed in downtown RHE. City officials already have approved three projects that include 117 units.
“These proposals for high-density residential developments are really the antithesis to the founding of our city,” Wolowicz said. “We view this as a major increase in the population. They’re moving at a rapid rate. They’re expecting this to move along quickly, and we’re concerned about that.”
According to Wolowicz, the plans contradict the city’s stated mission on its Web site “to preserve the unique rural-residential and equestrian environment.”
“I don’t think this is a rural atmosphere, and certainly it seems to be at odds with Rolling Hills Estates’ jealous protection of Palos Verdes Drive North,” Wolowicz said. “There’s an inconsistency here of messages.”
Residents Bill and Dawna Nugent agreed in a letter they sent to the city late last month. “This is one of the most congested areas on the Peninsula because of two shopping malls and Peninsula High School. We have followed the arguments that the city of Rolling Hills Estates put forth in opposition to the expansion of Rolling Hills Covenant Church,” they state in the letter. “We would like for you to continue to fight for the ‘semi-rural’ atmosphere that you have preserved for the folks down on Palos Verdes Drive North. This project impacts mostly people who live in Rancho Palos Verdes, and we wonder why traffic and congestion are now considered good things. Probably because homeowners and businesses provide tax revenue for the city and churches don’t.”

City responds
But RHE Senior Planner Niki Cutler said the city is on the right track.
“Basically, the EIR indicates that all impacts can be mitigated, with the exception of air-quality impacts and traffic impacts to Hawthorne Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, given that it’s not in our jurisdiction,” Cutler said. “It’s important for people to know that no decisions were made on the project during the meeting. The 900 units that comprise the proposed project are the jumping-off point for the analysis and the EIR. We have not approved 900 units in the commercial district.”
RHE Mayor Steve Zuckerman disagreed with the assertion that the project would impact RPV residents most. Because nearly all RHE residents live either along PV Drive North, Silver Spur or Highridge Road, he said, “proportionally, our residents will be impacted even more than the residents of RPV. Our City Council is extremely interested in the impacts we have on all residents of the Hill.”
Zuckerman also disputed the assertion that the city wants to rush the Village Plan. “With respect to our trying to push this along quickly, that’s not the case,” he said. “Nobody is trying to push anything through quickly or put anything over on anybody.”
As for the urban versus rural issue, “Clearly, the shopping center itself is not rural per se,” Zuckerman said. “I don’t think you can apply the same set of standards there that you do in our neighborhoods.”
However, the mayor added, “I wouldn’t want people to come back in 10 years and say, ‘Where am I?’”
“That’s sort of a philosophical discussion, sort of subjective,” Cutler said. “That’s the crux of the issue: What is rural?”
According to Zuckerman, the current plan is actually an improvement over existing code, which allows for the construction of more than 2,000 residential units downtown. “It clearly needs to be revised,” he said. “This is a great thing we’re doing, regardless of the outcome. And regardless of how many units are allowed, it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce President Kay Finer agreed. “It’s a very long process that’s ahead of us. The city is making every effort to minimize the impact, both with construction and the number of projects and spreading them out,” she said. “If they didn’t have controls, people could put in place whatever they wanted.”
The chamber established a Peninsula Village Task Force to review the EIR. “We are concerned, as everyone is, with traffic and air-quality issues,” Finer said. “We see the potential to bring more business to the district. However, it needs to be on balance with controlled growth. We’re looking at all of the ramifications of the projects.
“We’re sensitive to the businesses’ needs as well, as far as adequate parking. This is something that is definitely a high priority for the chamber,” she added. “We certainly don’t want to see a lot of businesses impacted or having to relocate. That’s why it’s critical for the density issue to be studied thoroughly.”
Zuckerman urged residents to continue commenting on the project. “The changes we’re talking about are generational, so we can’t go about this without the public participating,” he said. “It’s really important that all members of the community continue to maintain a high level of interest in this.”

Comments on the Peninsula Village Overlay Zone draft EIR are due no later than 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 18. Send written comments by mail to Senior Planner Niki Cutler at 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274; by e-mail to nikic@ci.rolling-hills-estates.ca.us; or by fax to (310) 377-4468. Direct any questions to Cutler at (310) 377-1577, ext. 115. Copies of the draft EIR are available for review on the city’s Web site at www.ci.rolling-hills-estates.ca.us, at the RHE Planning Department, 4045 PV Drive North, or at the Peninsula Center Library, 701 Silver Spur Road.

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[Ed: The Draft PEIR is also available on the website of the RHE Business Owners Association at: www.rhebusinessowners.com]