CITY SHOPS FOR THE BEST CENTER PLAN RESIDENTS' COMMENTS SOUGHT.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Lancaster planning officials are seeking residents' comments on plans for a proposed commercial center they hope will give residents a unique shopping environment and a social gathering spot.

City planning staffers, along with a consulting firm, RTKL, will unveil four layout options at a joint meeting of Lancaster's City Council and Planning Commission beginning at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Emergency Operations Center, 44933 Fern Ave.

The meeting is part of an effort to produce a specific plan -- a planning guideline -- for about 150 acres bounded roughly by avenues K-8 and L and by Fifth and 10th streets west.

``We want to encourage the public to come out and give them opinions,'' city spokeswoman Anne Aldrich said.

The Monday meeting is described as an important point for the project in which the City Council, the Planning Commission and public will hopefully come to some consensus on the direction to go with the layout, said Brian Ludicke, the city's planning director.

The goal is to create a center that is more than just a place to shop.

The center should be a social gathering spot and have a ``sense of place,'' Ludicke said.

``The residents have said we want more commercial activity, in a unique environment, where we can go shop, eat and stay awhile,'' Ludicke said.

The first layout option is organized in a north-south manner with a town square in the center and anchor stores -- larger, major retail stores -- at either end.

The commercial portion of the development, totaling about 550,000 square feet, would be located on the western side of the site.

The rest of the property is defined for ``flex space,'' which could be office space or some other type of use to be determined later.

The second layout option, and the one preferred by the city staff at this point, is referred to as a ``pinwheel organization'' with a town square focus. The layout accommodates both pedestrian and auto-oriented elements that emanate outward from a central town square.

The auto-oriented traffic would be located to the south and an east-west ``main street'' would run from either end of the town square.

That layout would accommodate 715,000 square feet of floor area and expands the commercial development further to the east than the first option.

The third option has a diagonal organization and has a pedestrian mall focus. Anchor stores would be located on the edges of the commercial center and would typically have dual orientation -- a focus on auto traffic on one side and a pedestrian orientation toward the center.

That layout resembles, on a smaller scale, the Victoria Gardens project in Rancho Cucamonga. The commercial footage would be 670,000 square feet.

The fourth layout option resembles the Town Center Drive mall in Santa Clarita. It has an east-west, serpentine ``main street'' layout. Anchor stores would be oriented toward 10th Street West.

That layout could accommodate 715,000 square feet of floor area.

The option two layout accommodates both auto and pedestrian traffic, which would give flexibility in attracting tenants; retains the town square feature, which provides a gathering spot; and allows for phased development.

``It's the best combination of all the things we want,'' Ludicke said.

``We are able to accommodate a range of users, but still retain that sense of place.''

The recommendation is only preliminary, however, and much of what is ultimately recommended will depend on the input from Monday's meeting and another public meeting tentatively scheduled for Dec. 14.

A formal staff recommendation will go to the Planning Commission in December and then to the City Council in January.

A final environmental impact report and the specific plan is expected to be presented in the summer.

james.skeen@dailynews

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

map

Map:

Proposed shopping center