MVCC Opposes 7-11 on Overland Avenue in Mar Vista

Tuesday night’s Mar Vista Community Council meeting became the site of impassioned arguments against a new 7-11, already being built out in a mini-mall at the intersection of Overland Avenue and National Boulevard.

The council had planned to vote on a proposal, crafted by its planning and land use committee at a January 17 meeting, that called on the city zoning administrator to approve the store’s conditional use permit request only if it met certain conditions including: ending alcohol sales at 9:00 p.m.; denying applicant the right to sell single cans or bottles of beer; providing a nighttime security guard; installing lights in the parking area; adhering to the established limitations on ingress/egress the parking lot; keeping signage facing Overland away from residential Queensland; and improving the landscaping.

Neighborhood residents, however, persuaded the community council to toss out that proposal which they argued compromised too much with a lessee that they do not want in the area.  About 40 local residents and business owners came to the meeting mostly to voice their opposition to any accommodation with 7-11.

Michael Pauls, a representative of the 7-11 franchisee was given the chance to speak first. Pauls presented his client as a responsible business owner who is trying to work with the community. Said Pauls, “We’re intending to establish a upscale 7-11 at this site.” He promised a clean exterior and interior with fresh vegetables and food.

Pauls argued that the store would be open 24 hours per day because many area residents, particularly those who live in nearby apartments work on shifts or odd hours and appreciate the ability to shop at any time. He also contended that the site had been vacant for several years and that 7-11 as an “anchor tenant” would attract other businesses to the mall, helping to re-fill it and thereby make the neighborhood safer because the stores are occupied.

The neighbors in attendance were not persuaded, guffawing openly at several points during his presentation. More than 20 neighbors gave public comments to decry the installation of the 7-11 at the site. Caroline Alley, a concerned neighbor who organized the group, said that there are already 11 places to buy beer and wine within a one-mile radius of this site, one of which is directly across the street. Said Alley, “We don’t need another 24-hour beer and wine store.

One resident after the next got up to tell the council about their concerns, mostly increased traffic on Queensland, a street with no sidewalks that serves as a main route to Clover Elementary School. Residents said many people walk, bike, scooter, walk dogs and push strollers in the street and they are worried that the store will attract traffic and require delivery trucks that will enter and exit from Queensland despite whatever traffic signs are installed.

Others expressed concern about the store attracting loitering, trash, public drinking and sex as well as a fear that it would increase burglaries in the neighborhood.

Alley told Patch that she had only found out about the store and the MVCC planning and land use committee hearing on the subject the day before it occurred. She said she had the impression at that meeting that there was little that could be done to stop the 7-11 from going in to that space, and so the group had focused on mitigating the damage by proposing restrictions on the city’s conditional use permit.

At Tuesday night’s meeting of the whole MVCC board however, residents were emphatically opposed to the 7-11 under any circumstances.

Board members were clearly moved by the outpouring of opposition from residents. Director, Kate Anderson proposed a new motion, that the  board “does not support the Applicant's request to build a 7-11 in this location. We encourage the applicant to renew discussions with the community to determine a successful and appropriate business for this location.” However, the resolution says, if the application is approved, board calls for the zoning administrator to require the mitigations suggested in its original resolution, including the limiting of alcohol sales hours, security cameras and guards and traffic and signage directives.

Board members Alex Thompson, Micahel Millman and Maritza Przekop opposed the resolution. Chair Sharon Commins abstained. The rest of the board supported it.

Sharon Commins, MVCC board chair told Patch, “Part of MVCC's job is to give the community a voice in these local zoning cases. This motion both expresses the desire of the community for a compatible business use in that mini mall while providing a safety valve of proposed mitigations in the event that the discretionary permit is approved by the city.

The board’s resolution, she said, “doesn't preclude MVCC or the neighbors from asking for tougher mitigations down the line.”

Alley told Patch after the motion was passed, “We have a long way to go, I'm sure, but we are clear that we do not need another 7-11 or any convenience store in the area and do not want them in that location.  We want a business we can support and frequent.”

The store’s application for a conditional use permit will go next to the city’s zoning administrator. That hearing is not yet scheduled.