Sprawl-Busters in Palmdale, California have a bone to pick with Alberton’s grocery superstore. Here’s their report:”If Albertson’s gets their way, 12,918 new vehicle trips per day will be clogging an intersection that is already rated at the two lowest Levels of Service (LOS), “E” and “F”. And that’s just for the first phase! One of the streets, the one with an LOS of “F”, is a single lane in either direction. Because motorists must slow down to turn onto the unimproved (“dirt”) roads that transect it, and because half the road (traveling East) is controlled by the city and the other half is controlled by the County, the developers are being given a “hall pass” as far as traffic is concerned.The project is not in a commercial area; it is right in the middle of a neighborhood that is and always has been 100% residential. The project is not in an area that is hurting for markets as there are 4 major chain supermarkets within 3.5 miles, two of which are within 2.75 miles. In addition, there are some 15 mini-mart stores within 1.5 miles. Still the city says the market is needed for convenience and necessity. A declaration that is obviously absurd.So the city of Palmdale, not wanting to leave this as a simple act of incompetence, has approved granting an easement to the market for their loading dock. Apparently, without the easement, they would be unable to put in the minimum number of parking spaces as their plans are to provide 892 spaces against a required 889. The problem is, the easement for the trucks and loading dock is on a city park and the north boundary of a soccer field!
The site has an historical flooding problem which the city has failed to deal with and thus, over the past half decade or so, paid out several hundreds of dollars on claims against the city’s negligence. They say that another 20 acres or so of roof top and parking lot won’t make it worse but just to be sure Albertson’s has agreed to build a retention basin that they, and the city, say will hold 85% of a severe storm! If there were awards for dumb projects, this would take the prize. It’s so dumb that the few residents in favor of the project have accused us of fabricating the statistics and maps even though the information is from the city, the developer, and Albertson’s. It’s incredible really! But it goes to show why we need help because we are just moms and dads, business owners, and homeowners with no experience fighting City Hall.”
For more background on Palmdale, contact [email protected]. For more on “Albertson’s” projects, search by that name on this database.
