|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A project proposal to replace the Livermore Town Center with townhomes divided some residents and tenants at a community meeting last week, as select members of the public supported the construction and tenants worried about the future of their businesses.
Located at the corner of Pacific and South Livermore avenues, the housing project would involve demolishing the center’s two existing commercial buildings, associated landscaping and parking lot.
Previously Nob Hill Foods served as the center’s anchor, but it is currently home to businesses including Lee’s Nail & Hair, Village Pet Shop, Raja Liquors, Patisserie By Simone and a bingo hall called Bingo4CHEF.
Following demolition of the commercial buildings, construction of the proposed Pacific and Livermore Townhomes project would then involve 15 residential buildings for 115 two- and three-story townhomes as well as an associated pool area with equipment, clubhouse buildings, guest parking and an interior park.
Including an adjacent vacant lot along South Livermore Avenue, the approximately 6.5-acre site would also feature approximately 26,050 square feet of open space and 55,200 square feet of landscaping, according to a March 18 Livermore Planning Commission staff report prepared by associate planner Jennifer Ackerman.
Associated public improvements would include the undergrounding of utility lines, new landscaped meandering sidewalk and curb and gutters along South Livermore Avenue, Pacific Avenue and Dolores Street.
On May 14 the public was welcomed to an open house where representatives from San Jose-based applicant Swenson Development and Construction as well as environmental consultants and city staff provided information about the proposed project.
As for the current businesses, Swenson plans to keep month-to-month leases available until summer 2026, according to city spokesperson Stephanie Egidio.
“I love what I do, I’d probably do it to the day I die, but if I look at it logically or practically, I don’t think I could afford to move in Livermore,” Bob LaFave, decades-long owner of Village Pet Shop, told Livermore Vine during the meeting.
After opening in 1966 with a footprint in Livermore for over 22 years, relocating Village Pet Shop appears insurmountable, LaFave explained.
In his estimation, moving the store would cost a total of $100,000 or more and a new location would charge triple the pet shop’s current rent.
While the city claims to be supportive of small businesses, LaFave said, “In the long run, I don’t really believe that.”
For Tara Huynh, owner of Lee’s Nail & Hair, the future appears just as uncertain, despite wanting to remain at the center.
“I’d like to stay there – It’s a nice area,” Huynh said. “(It’s) very sad to leave … I don’t know where I can go.”
Meanwhile, some Livermore residents at the meeting saw the proposal as a positive change for the city.
Dolores Duenas, who lives approximately a block from the shopping center along South Livermore Avenue, was among those to express support for the proposed project.
“I definitely think we need more housing,” Duenas said.
“I like the fact that they are making housing for people. California needs it,” agreed Allan Dahlquist, who lives on the same street.
While supportive, Duenas and Dahlquist both expressed concern about additional traffic along South Livermore and the safety of crossing the street.
“Depending on the time of day, I can sit in my car for a couple of minutes waiting for a break in traffic to get out of my driveway,” Dahlquist said.
“It’s hard to get across South Livermore Avenue and so I’m hoping that they will have crosswalks,” Duenas added.
Alex Abby, who passes the project site on trips to downtown Livermore, agreed that the project would be a positive change despite being a generic construction.
“It’s just been a derelict mall for a long time, so it’s kinda cool to see it get repurposed for something more productive,” Abby said.
“It looks like a lot of the other housing projects in Livermore,” Abby added. “It feels totally cookie cut. It’s exactly what you’d expect.”
Gina Diprima, who also passes by the site heading downtown, suggested the project include sites for shopping.
“I feel a little disappointed that it could be something, perhaps, more interesting,” Diprima said. “I’d love to see some useful retail, a small market or something, so it’s not a block of houses, that it has some other connection to the community in some way.”
Other questions and concerns raised at the meeting included the loss of retail space, parking, the existing wall and proposed fence between the project site and the Cabrillo Avenue neighbors to the north, the distance between the closest townhome building and the Cabrillo Avenue neighbors, the status of the former dry cleaner contamination cleanup as well as the site’s zoning as neighborhood mixed use, Egidio said.
Although several positive comments were received about the architecture and the overall project.
Prior to the community meeting, the planning commission considered elements in the proposed project’s environmental impact report at their March 18 meeting. At that meeting, all nine public commenters expressed concerns about the development including potential noise, dust, pests, hazardous material, blockage of views and sunlight, parking as well as a loss of privacy and commercial space.
Next steps for the project include public review of the draft EIR this summer, followed by the planning commission hearing on the EIR and project in late summer, according to Egidio.
