Palos Verdes Peninsula News
Saturday, August 25, 2007
by Chris Boyd 

Council members share their vision for city

    RHE — No one chose to run against the three incumbents, so the city of Rolling Hills Estates on Tuesday appointed council members John Addleman, Judy Mitchell and Frank Zerunyan to four-year terms.
    City officials cancelled the Nov. 6 election.
    The Peninsula News asked each appointed council member about their plans for the next four years and the challenges the city faces. This is how they responded.

John Addleman
    Though the council essentially nixed the Peninsula Village Plan that called f6r a European-style hamlet complete with condominiums, apartments and businesses in the downtown area between Crenshaw and Hawthorne boulevards, officials already have approved four mixed-use developments with 133 residential units. And more development is possible.
    Addleman said city officials must determine the impact of 133 units before forging ahead with additional construction because what happens downtown could change the character of the city. “I wasn’t elected by the developers and I don’t answer to them. I answer to the residents.” Addleman said. “Every development that comes before us now will have to have an environmental impact report ... I don’t think this is what people bought their property in Rolling Hills Estates for, a European village.”
    Traffic is of particular concern to Addleman, especially since developments like Terranea in Rancho Verdes and Ponte Vista in San Pedro promise to put more vehicles on local roads. “We have to control growth to reduce traffic chaos,” he said. “We have to be very, very careful. We have to have slow growth and be careful with our traffic, which is getting to a point where it's very serious.”
    Addleman also looks forward to watching the development of an expanded Rolling Hills Country Club golf course and adjacent 112-home tract. Officials are expected to approve the project that will signal the end of Chandler Palos Verdes Sand and Gravel — the golf course will sit atop the old landfill.
    “It’s going to take away what many residents view as an eyesore” Addleman said. “We'd love for that to get built out ... I think it's something that's going to make the city look very nice.”
    Officials also face the challenge of renovating the city stables. Though the city received more than $1 million in county Proposition A funds to complete the project, it could cost anywhere from $2.5 million to $3 million.
    “We need to improve our stables. We need to rebuild them and so forth,” Addleman said. “The city has to find more money. Even on the low side, we're short a million and a half.”
    Finally, the city needs to update its general plan, Addleman said. “If we're
fortunate, we'll have the general plan updated by 2010,” he said. “It's something we've wanted to do for a long time.”

               
                                                                                                               Tom Underhill, Peninsula News
 
Rolling Hills Estates City Council members Frank Zerunyan, second from left, Judy Mitchell, fourth from left, and John Addleman (next to Mitchell on the right) were appointed to serve four-year terms this week because no one challenged them for three open seats. City officials canceled the November election.

Judy Mitchell
    Relieved that she didn't have to run a campaign, Mitchell immediately turned her attention to the hotly debated downtown area. “One thing that we're going to continue with is development in the commercial center,” Mitchell said. “Our challenge is to guide that in a way that will be acceptable to the community.”
    On one hand, city officials must hear out residents, Mitchell said, but on the other, state representatives are telling them to prepare for growth. “We're kind of getting battled on both sides, and this is happening in a lot of communities,” she said. “We do think about how we can help both merchants and residents,”
    Mitchell said residents shouldn’t have to travel off the Hill to shop. “We do need to be mindful of the traffic concerns,” she added. “Traffic just keeps getting worse not only in our city but across the state.”
    RHE must partner with other cities to address growth and traffic issues, Mitchell said. “We need to work together to accomplish regional goals, especially with the regional growth that's expected,” she said. “As council members, we have all stated our desire to keep the community rural.”
    Residents shouldn't fear massive development downtown, according to Mitchell. “We will not put a lot of growth up there. Our whole intent when we started [the Village Plan] was to enliven [the commercial district],” she said. “You want to put a mixed-use project in an area that's already walkable. I think our little downtown area is a good place to incorporate it. It's already commercial.”
    City officials are considering transportation like a trolley system to ferry folks around downtown. “We've talked about PV Transit doing some kind of circular trip there,” Mitchell said. “It could be something that the developer might provide.”
    How many residential units will the business district support? “There probably is some magic number, but I don’t think we can know that right now,” Mitchell said. “It's better to go slow, step-by-step, and see what happens.”
    As more developments emerge, the city also has encouraged environmentally friendly practices by adopting green-building guidelines, Mitchell said. “Another area that is getting a lot of attention is green-building efficiency,” she added.

Frank Zerunyan
    With an operating surplus of more than $300,000, Zerunyan said the city is in top financial shape. “We are one of the unique cities in the entire state to be in the financial position that we are,” he said. “Not only have we balanced our budget, but we have done so with surpluses.”
    Among the methodologies the city implemented to save money, officials consolidated two staff positions, Zerunyan said. “This is taxpayer money. We don't gift it away,” he said. “I hope that our constituents saw what we were able to achieve together.”
    Zerunyan said that while initially there was some confusion about the Peninsula Village Plan, officials got in the public's “face” to solicit input. “Our government has been one of the best when it comes to transparency,” he said. “We have done everything we could and we have taken it slow.”
    Healthy growth is important to the city's downtown, Zerunyan said. “There's a lot to be done, and I'm very excited for us to be part of it. We understand that this is the heart of the Hill,” he said. “No change whatsoever is not a reasonable stance to me. Leaving a dilapidated city 50 years down the road just is not acceptable.”
When asked if he sees more than 133 units downtown, Zerunyan said “absolutely.” However, he refused to guess at the number.
    “It would be irresponsible for me to say 300 or 400 units will work,” he said. “It would not be right to give a number because it would be purely speculative.”
    Like Addleman, Zerunyan looks forward to seeing the Chandler-country club project get under way. “All indications are it's going to be a model and an absolutely wonderful project,” Zerunyan said. “It will become more consistent with our land use on the east side of our city.”
    With traffic on Palos Verdes Drive North seemingly getting worse every day, Zerunyan said RHE must work with other Peninsula cities and government bodies, such as the local School Board and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, to find remedies to a major commuting headache. “My hope is that all governments will work together,” he said. “We need to find solutions and we need to work with our neighbors.”
    “To me, that's a huge challenge” he added. "It's multi-faceted, and it requires out-of-the-box thinking.”

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