Sunland vs. Home Depot
Edited by Sara Epstein
Another meeting on Saturday. Yet another chapter written in the four year long Home Depot vs. the Sunland-Tujunga community saga.
 A journey filled with considerable noise and fury, rejected appeals and a law suit.
Brief back story: Home Depot acquired a property from Kmart … 8040
Foothill Blvd … as part of a multi-store transaction in 2004. No one
has been happy since. Home Depot received permits in July, 2006 and
then the City Council revoked them in the fall of 2007. Followed
shortly thereafter by a law suit. Home Depot suing the City.
In March of this year, Home Depot and the City agreed to a stipulation that put a hold on the legal action. As part of the deal, the City Attorney was charged with facilitating discussions between Home Depot and the community. That Sunland-Tujunga dialogue took place on Saturday. Here are some different reports on how it went.
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Report from Sunland-Tujunga NC Secretary, Cindy Cleghorn:
The turnout was big for the community on a Saturday afternoon: I'd say over 300-350. I saw many familiar faces of our community, many new faces, and faces I haven't seen in a while. There will be lots of pictures!
The facilitators were well - organized. Barbara Goldfarb explained what would take place, answered a few questions and then we were all asked to pick a number from a bowl to assign us each to tables. There were nearly 30 tables, inside and outside. Some had only five individuals, others had 10 or 12. Some tables had two facilitators: a main one keeping the dialogue moving and another to make sure everyone got a chance to speak. Some tables had Home Depot representatives (Jeff Nichols, RE Manager for the Western Region), Josh Gertler from Consensus Planning, Francisco Uribe (recently hired by Home Depot and San Fernando Valley Economic Development chairman) and others including Consensus Planning employees sat in and participated in the sessions.
A ground rules sheet was also handed out in advance of getting started and an evaluation form was requested at the end.
At our table, we went through the questions in Avis Ridley-Thomas' letter. I heard from others that their dialogue was an open format and didn't follow the questions. At the end we were asked to prioritize five key points from the dialogue sessions. Ms. Goldfarb then had each table present the key points to the entire assembly.
- The overwhelming outcome and consensus was:
- Sunland-Tujunga does "not" want a Home Depot
- Home Depot must follow the laws and do a full EIR with full mitigation measures
- The community wants to see at that site and the Community Plan calls for a community center, including a variety store and other shops and restaurants (Target named many times)
- The neighborhood character must be preserved
The community's voice is united in these positions. Were the Home Depot folks listening? Community members asked that question several times. Why isn't anyone listening and hearing the Sunland-Tujunga community?
When the session began, Barbara Goldfarb made it clear that we couldn't take photos and asked the media to stay outside once the groups were together. But, I did see some TV stations doing interviews and reporters taking notes, listening in on sessions.
The Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, Sunland-Tujunga Alliance, neighbors and business owners are all well informed on this issue. The community presented their points very well, listened very well and dialogued very well. So well that I think the facilitators themselves were impressed. The question now is: Will the community be listened to and respected?
When we went into this dialogue we were told that there are supporters of Home Depot in our community. I heard that at other tables, after community members explained the serious impacts a Home Depot would have, the few people who supported a Home Depot changed their position to NOT support a Home Depot.
All the notes written on the butcher block paper and flip chart sheets will be presented to Council member Wendy Greuel at some point. The City has held the dialogue, so what's next?
On April 22, Home Depot turned in their application for Project Permit Compliance for a store at the site. They will request time at the STNC's land use meeting soon. To view a copy of the 74 page application, visit the STNC web site at www.stnc.org.
If Home Depot relinquishes their lease to a development that the community needs and wants, then we will consider Home Depot 'a good corporate neighbor.' That development does not include a Home Depot in Sunland-Tujunga.
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HOME DEPOT STATEMENT-
“Today we were able to listen to and interact directly with members of the Sunland-Tujunga community,” said Jeff Nichols, Director of Real Estate, Western Division for The Home Depot. “We believe it is important that all parties involved in this neighborhood hear from differing perspectives and opinions and today’s meeting was an important step toward accomplishing this goal. On behalf of The Home Depot, I would like to thank the City Attorney’s Mediation Group for facilitating this forum for community dialogue. I would additionally like to thank the committed residents of Sunland-Tujunga for the frank and helpful opinions expressed here today.”
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EXCERPT FROM RON KAYELA.COM
I sat at Table 27 with six local residents, a representative of Home Deport and a volunteer facilitator. Oddly, at the outset of the entire event, media representatives were asked to identify themselves but bloggers like myself were accepted on equal footing with my former colleague, Daily News reporter Rick Coca. And the facilitator questioned at length the appropriateness of my joining in at Table 27.
Truth be told, the event came four years too late. If City Hall gave a damn about the neighborhoods, every development project with any significant impact on the quality of life would start with community information meetings and this kind of mediation event if there was much of a controversy.
Regina Clark set the tone for my group by setting out a long series of problems and making it clear Home Depot could never win even if the store got built.
"Most people in this community would never shop in another Home Depot no matter what happens,'' she said.
The company representative offered no objection to that or any other statements during the next 90 minutes or so, making sure everyone understood listening to the community's concerns was the mission.
The group's list of objections was long: It will destroy the small-town character of the community; small merchants, especially hardware stores and home repair services, would be put out of business; noise; traffic congestion; dozens of 18-wheel trucks on the street; a school less than 500 feet away; day laborers; violation of the community plan; the start of overdevelopment and high density. Similar lists of issues that came up at every other table.
So what do these people want?
A town center with a Target or other general merchandise store, with a meeting hall, and places to stroll, lots of little shops -- why it sounded like a scaled-down version of every Rick Caruso project like the Grove or Calabasas Commons.
I couldn't help but wonder why the city wasn't working to achieve that for Sunland and every other neighborhood in the city. Isn't that why we have a government at all? Shouldn't City Hall be working with every community to create gathering places and economic health? Isn't government supposed to deliver what we the people want, not what's good for the politicians, bureaucrats, developers and influence peddlers?
After four years of consciousness-raising experience, the people in my group had a good grasp on what's wrong with L.A.
Kathy Kennedy said, "We're not getting heard, all we get is lip service."
"We don't trust the city," said Dan Smith. "No matter what we do somehow or another this thing is going to go through.
Added Jeff Buzard: "Democracy is just a buzzword anymore. All they're saying is, 'Let's give them a voice so we can say we did before we get our way,'"
Almost in unison the group in the end asked the same question: "Why are we even doing this?" (More Ron Kaye at RonKayeLA.com)
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FROM THE DAILY NEWS
Amid a contentious battle over a proposed Home Depot, city officials tried to cool tempers Saturday by hosting a community dialogue aimed at finding a middle ground between warring factions.
About 200 community residents attended, although organizers had been expecting up to 1,000.
Although a few supporters, including Home Depot employees, noted the project would likely bring more jobs to the community, most in the crowd were against it.
Asked for opinions, most listed complaints such as traffic and an increase in day laborers. Some even used the term "community assassination."
"(I'm) totally, vehemently against a Home Depot in Sunland-Tujunga," said Darlene Gogun, who has lived in the community for about 38 years.
She's concerned that a big-box store like Home Depot would increase air and water pollution, as well as noise, in an area that has five schools nearby.
Some residents sat and listened patiently as mediators engaged them in dialogue in an effort to understand their concerns and to work toward constructive solutions.
Billed as "the Sunland/Tujunga dialogue," the meeting at Mount Gleason Middle School was set up by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office as part of an agreement with The Home Depot Inc., which suspended a $10 million lawsuit against the city while it seeks a building permit.
The company is seeking to build a store on the old Kmart lot on Foothill Boulevard, which it bought in 2004.
Amid community discontent over the proposed project, its original building permit was rejected by the council last year.
The back-and-forth battle has resulted in organized community-based resistance, complete with a Web site dedicated to all things against the Home Depot. The home-improvement center countered by funding an effort to bus in mostly Latino supporters to public meetings, where they accused some of the opposition of being racist.
(This Daily News story by Rick Coca. Photo by Gene Blevins.) _
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