Planning Commission declines to support 33-unit condo development

DOWNEY — A controversial housing project that has frustrated neighbors in the Treasure Island community of Downey failed to get a passing vote from the Planning Commission Wednesday night.

The Planning Commission came to a 2-2 vote (commissioner Mario Guerra was absent) to recommend that the City Council adopt zone changes, a site plan and a tentative tract map that would have brought a 33-unit condominium project on Downey’s west limits at 7360 Foster Bridge Rd.

Chair Carrie Uva and Commissioner Louis Morales voted in opposition.

The property is currently operated by a church that was built in 1959. The church has since decided to move on from the location and is in the process of selling.

The 3-bedroom condos would have been three stories tall and built across four buildings. Each home would have included a two-car garage and either a private balcony or patio.

The project called for two driveways with the primary entrance located on the northeast corner of Foster Bridge Road.

There had been some suggestion whether fewer units could be built. However, this was shot down by the developer, who said the 33-units were required to make the project financially feasible.

Neighborhood residents, many of whom addressed the Planning Commission on Wednesday, have opposed the project, claiming it would worsen traffic congestion on Suva Street and eat into street parking, while also impacting safety and privacy. A report written for the Planning Commission indicates the city of Bell Gardens, which borders the project, “expressed concern” over the development as well.

The project also garnered support, however, from several Downey residents who argued the project would beautify the area, fill housing needs, and offer opportunities to new potential homeowners.

Still, neighbors suggested that many of those in favor were not truly of the neighborhood and wouldn’t be directly impacted.

One resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the developer team sent out a text message inviting supporters to a dinner at La Barca restaurant just hours before the meeting, providing the Downey Patriot with screenshots of the message.

Commissioner Elias Saikaly, who voted in favor of the project, acknowledged many of the development’s potential issues but said that the project “would provide homes for a lot of people.”

“You have a house, you have a beautiful home in the Treasure Island; they’d like to have a share of that, they’d like to have a home in a nice neighborhood,” said Saikaly. “When you try to deny them that, why? Because there’s a traffic issue? That’s not the company’s problem, that is the city’s problem. The parking? That’s not the company’s problem, that is the city’s problem.

“Is it going to add a little bit of traffic to the streets? Yes, it will. If this developer walks away, somebody else is going to replace them, and we’re going to have the same problem all over again. And it could be worse, it could be having apartment buildings.”

Uva said that she “struggled” with the decision.

“We have a church that wants to sell their property, and they have every right to sell their property and go on to another adventure in another location or whatever it is they want to do. We have a developer that’s willing to buy this property, and they’re willing to build 33 units, and sell these units to prospective homeowners; not tenants, not anything else but pure homeowners,” said Uva. “Do I feel that this is what’s best for this specific property? I’ll admit, probably not. Thirty-three homes, no, I don’t think that’s what’s best for this property.

“But somebody will buy this land, just like my commissioners have said, and somebody will develop it, so we need to think about what is that going to be? We’re going to be probably dealing with the same issues with any other future project.”