by Timothy Rutt
The Altadena Town Council has only one action item on the agenda for Tuesday: considering a temporary moratorium for commercial development in the Lake Avenue business district.
Accordingly, expect the meeting to be crowded: the Land Use Committee also heard public comment about the idea last week, and sent it to the Town Council without making a decision itself.
This moratorium is being pushed by Neighbors Building a Better Altadena, an anti-Walmart group. It calls for declaring a moratorium on property development of over 15,000 square feet along the Lake Avenue business district while new community standards are being drawn up. In practice, this would only affect the "Calavaras Crater" on Lake Avenue and Calavaras Street. The property, after many years lying empty, is now going through the county processes to put a commercial building on the site. The site owners also own the property where the Walmart Neighborhood Market is about to open on Lincoln Avenue and Figueroa Street, and NBBA fears that the Calavaras project may be another Walmart market coming in under the radar.
Another anti-Walmart group, SaveAltadena, is also pushing for a moratorium, but county-wide, rather than local.
The Altadena Town Council meets at 7 PM Feb. 19 at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive.
Agenda after the jump.
