Neighbors helping neighbors, neighbors informing neighbors
In the January 2008 edition of the Madronna Homeowners Association (Torrance) Newsletter are these pieces:
SunCal development at the Mall –
The Mills Corp. ( Del Amo Mall ) sold the 16 acre 917 condo site to SunCal. SunCal has had a series of meeting with a committee of Torrance residents appointed by Mayor Scotto. The last meeting was with Mayor Scotto because SunCal was concerned with the direction the committee was taking. At this meeting the committee voted 14 to 4 to recommend no high density residential on the site. The scheduled meeting in July was canceled and there has not been any other meetings. SunCal had ask to meet with the Coalition of Torrance Homeowners Associations, they said No. The Coalition had decided last year not to meet directly with developers, because the developers had used our meeting with them against us at City Council meetings. At that time the Coalition decided that if any developer wanted to meet with the community, they should attend a regular Homeowner Association meeting and members of the Coalition could attend.
2008 City council election-
It is very important that the two Homeowners Association officers running for city council are elected. We were able to help elect a new mayor and two city council members in the 2006 election, but four votes on the city council are needed to protect our city from developers. Sun Cal has an employee running for the Redondo Beach City Council. Sun Cal or other developers could also buy a candidate for the 2008 Torrance City Council election.
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Although some of us are sad that the great blog: Life on the edge (www.laharbor.blogspot.com) appears to be going into retirement, there is now opportunity for other blogs and new blogs to consider issues that life on the edge dealt with, more recently.
I guess the two originators of the blog felt that it had strayed too far from its original intent, so they will retire it and let its posts be remembered.
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Creating a blog with a ".blogspot.com" address is free and easy. I do basic blogging, but there are so many other blogs out there that utilize video, audio, and really great illustrations to keep folks interested.
This blog and the other blogs that have ".blogspot.com" are part of the world of Google.
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Today is the last day to provide written comments on the Marymount College Expansion Project's Draft Environmental Impact Report.
Comments need to be into the lead agency by the close of business today. Probably the best way to send in comments at this late hour is to Email them to:
Mr. Ara Michael Mihranian, AICP at aram@rpv.com.
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8 comments:
You need to look to how Anaheim got rid of Suncal. Thanks to Disney, the residents and business of Anaheim, we stood up to Suncal. Be very carefull in dealing with this company. They donate large sums of money to council members and when things don't go their way, they sue or threaten to sue. Trust is not a word you should use when dealing with this company. You can also see how they influenced countil members in Albequerque, New Mexico. The people there were asleep at the wheel when Suncal came to town.
Thanks Stan, for your comment.
This little piece of news was also found in the Madronna HOA's January Newsletter:
2008 City council election
It is very important that the two Homeowners Association officers running for city council are elected. We were able to help elect a new mayor and two city council members in the 2006 election, but four votes on the city council are needed to protect our city from developers.
Sun Cal has an employee running for the Redondo Beach City Council.
Sun Cal or other developers could also buy a candidate for the 2008 Torrance City Council election.
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Perhaps the lesson here is that the only folks who trust developers...are other developers.
MW
MW, Suncal is very adept at influencing local politicians. They are very patient and willing to spend millions of dollars to get their way. By their own admission they claim to have spent $10,000,000 on their attempt to build 1500 homes on 26 acres in the Anaheim Resort Zone. They knew in advance that the land was not zoned for residential. The Anaheim Planning Commission turned them down by a vote of 5 to 0. That did not deter them as they had three council members in their back pocket. Fortunately the SOAR group that was funded by Disney, but composed of close to 5,000 Anaheim Residents and the businesses of the resort stood up to the Council and Suncal. Please to to www.soaranaheim.com if you have would and you will see what we had to do to get Suncal to fold up their tent and leave town. Of course their attorney threatened to sue the city and anyone involved and that threat can be seen on the www.anaheim.net web site which replays all of the council meetings.
I'm not sure other developers now trust Suncal. In Bakersfield they walked away from a $74 million dollar loan and stuck their homebuilder partner with the land.
Then a few days later announce that they are starting their own homebuilding company. That move must have ticked off Centex and Lennar who were going to build the homes. Suncal had an excuse which might have been valid and that was there was no water available to serve the new homes. You would have thought that such an experienced developer would have figured that one out in advance. They are not a business that anyone should do business with and they like to play hardball when things do not go their way.
I forgot to mention that Suncal will have an Anaheim Resident running for City Council at the next election. SOAR will undoubtedly be alerting the voters of her affiliation with Suncal.
if you haven't seen it yet, greenwood's letter in the breeze is spectacular.
Link to Bakersfield News Story on developer defaults. Suncal's is the largest.
http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/327149.html
Thanks again Stan, for your continuing great comments.
Folks, it seem Stan is a great neighbor who probably happens to live in a neighborhood fairly far away from OUR community.
I hope Stan and others can enjoy visiting www.rneighborhoodsare1.org or the blog: www.rneighborhoodsare1.blogspot.com. It hasn't been updated since September, but by visiting the organization's Web site, folks can learn more about OUR community's fight against weapons of mass development.
I visited and copied the information from the site Stan informed all of us about. Here is the paragraph about SunCal:
Shafter
• SunCal Mission Lakes LLC
Loan amount: $74.3 Million Dollars
Location: About 515 acres north of 7th Standard Road northwest of the intersection with the Calloway Canal.
Details: In late September, the subsidiary of Irvine-based Suncal Cos. defaulted on a loan from Lennar Homes of California Inc. Officials from Miami-headquartered Lennar Corp., a national homebuilder, said they would take the property back when it foreclosed, but declined to say what the company’s ultimate plans are for the proposed 5,300-home Mission Lakes project.
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If you read closely, you will read that the development is set to be 515 acres in size for 5,300 units.
That density is 10.29 units per acre as opposed to over 31 units per acre that Bob wants to build at Ponte Vista.
What may happen if Bob and his LLC defaults on their loans for Ponte Vista? Please stayed tuned and informed.
MW
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