Santa Anita Companies have submitted a down-scaled entertainment complex with the new proposal for developing the South parking lot of the Santa Anita Park race track property.
In a major retreat from its campaign to develop land south of the Santa Anita Park race track, Santa Anita Realty Enterprises has withdrawn its application to build a $300 million entertainment complex.
The campaign over a controversial ballot measure to restrict development at Santa Anita Park race track is heating up, with two community groups coming out against the initiative and a new group being formed to support it. Measure M requires a majority vote of approval from Arcadia residents for any change in land use requested by Santa Anita.
The Santa Anita Companies was dealt a blow when the State Assembly Appropriations Committee shot down two key bills that would have allowed Santa Anita to begin expansion into the casino industry.
The Board of Education has approved a new after-school child care program to be conducted by the Santa Anita Family branch of the YMCA at the Holly Avenue Elementary School Youth Hut. About 20 children have been enrolled in the program, which can accommodate up to 35.
Concerns about a proposed entertainment complex next to Santa Anita Park race track have been expressed by representatives of three stores in the Santa Anita Fashion Park.
Citizen input is sought on the proposed Santa Anita Commercial Center. The current proposal is 1/3 the size of the initial package presented in 1996 and would be built on 60 acres of what is now the south parking lot of Santa Anita Park.
The City Council approved funding for a new guardrail along Santa Anita Canyon Road, where a motorist drove over a mountainside last year. Federal funds will cover 90% of the new guardrail costs, and the new guardrail could be in place as early as spring.
Test scores of Arcadia Unified School District's seniors rose this year. The reading score was 294 (up 19 points) while math score was 333 (up 20 points). Since 1987-88, students moved from the 77th to the 85th percentile in reading and from the 89th to the 96th percentile in math statewide.
The Arcadia Redevelopment Agency voted unanimously to begin condemnation proceedings of a property at 156 Santa Clara Street. The agency wants to claim the land for retail stores and office buildings. Eminent domain proceedings were begun since the city and the owners of the property have not been able to agree on the value of the property.
Arcadia Mayor Barbara Kuhn presented a trophy to Corey Nakatani after the jockey rode Atticus for a world record time in the recent Arcadia Handicap at Santa Anita Park. Photo.
A many as 60 of the trees on Orange Grove Ave., the "county road" running from Michillinda Blvd. to Santa Anita Ave., could be endangered by a proposed road-widening project currently under consideration by Arcadia and Sierra Madre. The street would be widened from 30 to 36 ft. since the street is considered too narrow for the trash bins that residents often leave in the road, constituting a hazard.
Businessman Frank Stronach, who announced he is buying Santa Anita Park, has stated that his vision for developing the land is drastically different than Santa Anita's current proposal.
The City Council voted to allow Rodeffer Investments Inc. to fill a tapped-out quarry, 85 acres by 165 feet deep, with 10 million cubic yards of dirt, gravel and concrete. The plan still must get the approval of the state and local water quality boards, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the CA Integrated Waste Board and the County Health Dept.
The nine candidates running for City Council air their views on Santa Anita's 1995 entertainment complex proposal. (Interviews were conducted before the latest 1998 proposal was presented.)