PLATFORM : No More Room

My main concern (with Farmers’ Market) is the impact on the residential community. It’s going to be major in terms of traffic, congestion and crime.

The uses that they’re proposing for the site include a couple of hotels, a lot of retail, office buildings, a major sports center and gym. One of the worst uses is usually a gym; they are the biggest traffic generators . . . There is a direct connection between the number of liquor licenses in an area and the amount of crime. And can we really support another major shopping center less than a mile from the Beverly Center? . . . There is no way that adequate (traffic) capacity can be developed at this site, with the surrounding streets already at gridlock. But these people (A.F. Gilmore Co., owners of Farmers’ Market) . . . have been there a long time and have too much political support. There’s obviously going to be some sort of compromise.

Tomorrow: From the developer’s perspective.