Grand Terrace Residents Voice Opinions on Grand Crossings Project
By Julie Farren, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.
May 22–Grand Terrace residents want a movie theater, outdoor restaurants and more community centers.
Those were the sentiments expressed at a meeting held last week by city officials trying to determine the best use of 100 acres south of Barton Road and east of Interstate 215.
About 30 residents attended the meeting at City Hall.
“I thought it was very positive,” said Gary Koontz, the city’s community development director. “It was nice to see that number of people show up.”
The project’s developer is Mar Ventures Inc., a Torrance-based privately owned real estate firm specializing in the acquisition, master planning and redevelopment of underused or obsolete urban land.
Mar Ventures President Allan McKenzie also attended the meeting.
The project was proposed in 2002 as the Outdoor Adventure Center, a 123-acre retail center.
At the time, residents were concerned about traffic, and a citizens group challenged the environmental impact report, which delayed the project and eventually killed it.
At the community meeting, Koontz said some of the concerns that arose were about protecting Michigan Avenue as a residential neighborhood.
Michigan Avenue is a boundary for the Grand Crossings project.
The neighborhood has had problems with truck traffic, Koontz said. He said trucks would be redirected to Commerce Way in the new proposal.
McKenzie said residents also said at the meeting that they would prefer to shop in their own city rather than having to travel elsewhere.
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