Uptown Whittier Plan Unveiled : Consultant Warns of Piecemeal Building

WHITTIER —  Piecemeal construction is jeopardizing the redesign of Uptown Whittier, a consultant told city officials as he unveiled an ambitious plan for weaving residential development into the earthquake-devastated business district.

“While an earthquake can destroy an area overnight, poor quality development can create vast damage as well,” said Larry Morrison of The Arroyo Group.

Morrison was especially concerned about two blocks, dominated by vacant lots, at the intersection of Greenleaf Avenue and Philadelphia Street. He proposed an “Uptown Center” that would include movie theaters, restaurants, stores, a farmer’s market, office space and a parking garage.

“If you miss the potential of these two blocks, you miss 50% of the potential for revitalizing Uptown,” Morrison said.

A successful “Uptown Center” would become the drawing card for the surrounding commercial and residential development needed to sustain the area, Morrison said Wednesday during an hour-long slide presentation to the Citizen’s Advisory Committee, formed to discuss post-earthquake redevelopment issues.

Committee members received the plan enthusiastically, but shared Morrison’s concern about piecemeal development. “We are likely to let the quality of design slip through our fingers,” said committee member David Pickard, a Whittier architect.

Several new construction projects that may not conform to the plan have been submitted to the Planning Commission. The commission already has allowed the owner of a mortuary, which was destroyed by the earthquake, to rebuild at a site that the consultant and the committee thought would be more suitable for a restaurant or movie theater. White-Emerson Mortuary will be rebuilt one block from the Whittier College Performing Arts Center now under construction.

The Arroyo Group’s plan represents a blueprint for developing a 32-block area of commercial and residential neighborhoods bordered by Hadley Street, Pickering Avenue, Penn Street and Painter Avenue. The Uptown district traditionally has been considered an 18-block business area.

Under the plan, seven or eight blocks would be established as residential strolling areas in which existing historic homes would be preserved and some apartment buildings would be replaced by historic homes moved from other streets. Some parts of the blocks would be set aside for apartments and condominiums. All residents would share common areas, such as a swimming pool or park. Streets would remain open, but wider sidewalks, special lighting and trees would be added to encourage more pedestrian traffic.

Prototype Proposed

Morrison suggested that the city develop one block, which he calls the Uptown Whittier Residential Prototype, to encourage private developers to follow suit.

Philadelphia Street would be developed as a “community retail” area to serve the residents. It would include such businesses as small markets, dry cleaners and drugstores, Morrison said. Some alleys would be converted to gallerias that serve as pathways to the business district.

“The key is making Uptown a walkable area,” he said.

Greenleaf Avenue would remain Uptown’s main commercial strip, but Philadelphia Street would be developed from Pickering Avenue on the east to Painter Avenue on the west. In response to Uptown’s chronic parking shortage, seven new parking garages would be built along Greenleaf and two garages would go up on Painter Avenue.

The Arroyo Group divided the Uptown into four quadrants, excluding the commercial core.

The northwest quadrant would be primarily residential, with about 3 1/2 blocks set aside for historic residences. Bailey Street and Newlin Avenue would become “residential strolling streets.”

The southwest quadrant would have about 4 1/2 blocks for historic residences and would create Wardman Park in place of a city-owned parking lot at the corner of Wardman Street and Pickering Avenue.

The southeast quadrant would have a mix of historic residences, and office space in historic buildings and other structures. Milton Avenue would become a “strolling street.”

The northeast quadrant plan would convert the homes around historic Central Park into retail shops and restaurants, and provide office space around Painter Avenue and Hadley Street.

The proposal to turn the Central Park area into a commercial district ran into opposition on the committee. “In a way, it might be spoiling the very fabric of the area we find so attractive,” said committee member Stephen Overturf of the Whittier Area Research Center at Whittier College.

Morrison said the private sector would have to finance most of the redevelopment because the Redevelopment Agency’s funds are being exhausted by two Whittier Boulevard shopping center developments.

The agency could pay for Uptown street improvements and acquire land parcels through the power of eminent domain, but “I think they’re going to have to rely on a strategy of getting the private sector involved,” Morrison said. “They have to use the plan ideas as a major tool for attracting development.”

The Arroyo Group plan will be reviewed again by the committee next week, revised and then forwarded to the City Council for final approval. The Arroyo Group is being paid $90,000 from a federal earthquake recovery grant.

Opposition Likely

The plan is likely to be opposed by local merchants such as Milt Pate, who complained to the committee that the redesign plan could conflict with his plans to rebuild Pate’s Auto Works.

“The land that I own is not going to be zoned for my type of business,” said Pate, who is awaiting approval from the Planning Commission before starting construction. “What are we supposed to do?”

Pate was told there was no immediate reason for concern because The Arroyo Group’s plan was for 20 or 30 years down the road.

Pate, who has been out of business since the Oct. 1 earthquake, responded: “I’ve got one down--29 to go.”