Tuesday, January 22, 2008

More Blight Caused by ANOTHER Out of Town Developer

The picture below is something OUR community should have never been shown. it is a photo of the outside of the former McCowan's Market on the corner of 20Th Street and Walker Avenue.

It was bad enough and sad enough to have the beloved market closed by the out of town developer who bought the property in 2007. The neighbors and all who traveled past the site recently, got to view the blight created by the demolition crew hired by the developer, Mike Rosenthal.

In an Email written by an opponent of having condos built on the site, you will note that the L.A.P.D. had to be called to halt the noisy and destructive work at 11:30 PM.


Here is the body of the Email sent that came with this photo:

This is the mess that crews left Saturday night after working well past
11:30 pm.

The police were called and they stopped leaving broken glass,
sharp metal pieces, and trash all over the side walk.

This was not only and eyesore, but a very dangerous situation with children playing in the
area.

I took these pics to building and safety this morning and filed a
complaint.

This is no way to do work in our neighborhood. Rosenthal has no
regard for anyone. Please continue with your efforts to get this stopped.

Thanks,
Barbara Dragich
___________________________________________________

Both parking areas for the old market have been bulldozed as they are being prepared for three-single-family houses on R1 lots.

It appears to me that the developer is attempting to rush with the demolition of the old market's building so he can quickly start work on his multi-family building(s).

Normally I cover this issue at www.rneighborhoodsare1.blogspot.com, but I feel strongly that we have another out of town developer trashing another neighborhood for profit.

If the developer, Mike Rosenthal, is allowed to build a condominium building which has 15-18 units in a neighborhood where the vast majority of housing is on R1 lots, then he could very well cause the values of the nearby homes to drop, the area becoming more congested because we all know that there are hardly any condominium buildings that don't have some renters, and the quality of life to be lowered for the current residents of the area.

Because McCowan's has closed, more folks, including folks who live in any condominiums and apartments on 19Th Street, will have to most probably drive their cars to supermarkets on Western Avenue and/or 25Th Street. Of course they might also travel to the Vons on 13Th and Gaffey.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Vons at 13th is much nicer now that they have re-done it. I used to not shop there because it was so nasty and run down. Now they have a much better selection and the place looks clean.It's not as big as the Ralph's on Capitol, but it's a solid supermarket.

M Richards said...

Thanks km, and I agree with you.

Now folks who used to walk to McCowan's will have to drive to (probably) the two Vons Markets or the Albertson's on 25Th and Western. Those three markets seem to be the closest large markets, now.

I can see the giant Ralph's from my back yard and it is a large store, just like the Albertson's on Western at Westmont. Of course they are both newer than the three other large markets in San Pedro.

Here is a bit of trivia:

Rancho Palos Verdes has TWO large stores for purchasing food items.

One is the Ralph's fresh fare on Hawthorne at Crest Road.
The other is the Smart and Final on Western at Westmont.

That's it folks. Just two large markets in a City of about 43,000 people. The two stores are about 9 miles apart if you take the coast route.
MW

Anonymous said...

Ohhhh.. this guy is slick. In More San Pedro he claims he would like to see the land turned into a park. The only thing is that he will require the city to pay him enough $$ to make a profit. That won't happen, and then he will blame the city for why he had to stuff a bunch of condos on the old McCowans site. At least he has been obviously "sensitized" from what Bisno is going through. All big developers should beware that it won't be easy to just roll into town and turn a big profit at our community's expense.

M Richards said...

Thanks anonymous 7:00 PM,

I cover the issue more in depth and (hopefully) with some humor, on one of my other blogs:
www.rneighborhoodsare1.blogspot.com

If and when a park is built at the corner of 20TH and Walker, we will all have to keep away from the pigs that will be flying over the site.

We should appreciate that Mr. Rosenthal seems to have a sense of humor, albeit a sick one apparently.
MW

Anonymous said...

slick?

try full of sh*t.

M Richards said...

Hey anonymous 4:55 PM, Thank you so much for using the "*" instead of the letter "i"!

I try to keep the vulgarity to be found on the other blogger's site or my uncensored blog.

I hope we all got a chuckle or two from the two articles in the Daily Breeze which had comments that Mike Rosenthal wanted a park built on the site, instead of condos.

Here comes yet another developer who thinks OUR community members can't see the truth.
MW