Residents express concerns about traffic, parking, at meeting on Town Center development.

LA CA—ADA FLINTRIDGE ? During a lengthy public hearing at City Hall Tuesday, the Planning Commission hadn't made a decision on the environmental review of a proposed Town Center development as of this newspaper's deadline. The meeting uncovered numerous concerns from commissioners and local residents.

Residents expressed concerns regarding Mattix Development Partners' 11.73-acre proposed retail project, which is bounded by Foothill Boulevard, Angeles Crest Highway, the Foothill (210) Freeway and Lillian Court. Homeowners living in the adjacent neighborhood primarily voiced parking and traffic concerns that they said could add to noise and have adverse effect on property values.

"They have to consider the residents of Lillian Court and Houseman [Street]," said Lee Ann Weston, who owns a home off of Lillian Court. "They're ignoring us."

So far, developers have not committed to putting up a wall to separate the residential area from the town center. Mattix Development Partners wants to erect a hill to separate the areas, but some of the residents of the adjacent community were not convinced this will be enough to keep traffic out of their community.

"I'm against the fact that they're not separating the residential and commercial properties," said homeowner Daniel Weston. "A hill isn't going to keep anyone from crossing back and forth. [The developers] really need to put a wall there or we're going to have people parking in our neighborhood."

Another concern involved the number of trees that would either be destroyed or removed during construction. The review stated 247 trees would be removed and 168 are proposed to be replaced. Of the removed trees, 69 are protected species. EIP Associates, which conducted the environmental review, said the proposed project would have a minimal effect on such matters as water drainage and traffic congestion. A Los Angeles County hydrology study also found the plan to be fine, except for some minor concerns expressed about water runoff down Foothill Boulevard.

Caltrans also presented some minor concerns. In a letter to the Planning Commission, Caltrans supported the further widening of Foothill Boulevard and Foothill (210) Freeway offramps near the site to support the extra traffic, but the environmental review didn't mark these proposals as necessary.