COUNCIL VOTES AGAINST KILROY DEVELOPMENT : MULTIPLEX THEATER PLAN OPPOSED.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

It seems so long ago that Cathy Schutz doesn't remember how many times her group met.

Schutz was one of 107 residents who four years ago worked on a committee that defined what kind of development the community wanted for the 11-acre parcel just east of the Civic Arts Plaza.

A plan that the City Council unanimously voted down Tuesday night included some of the elements residents had described in their dream development. Some, but not enough.

``At the City Council meeting, the designer from Kilroy Industries went down the list and said it had many of the things we had asked for,'' Schutz said. ``We wanted a people-friendly place with trees and places for children to play. But everybody has different opinions and many felt that the plans weren't detailed enough.''

The City Council rejected a plan for a 230,000-square-foot development with a 90,000-square-foot multiplex theater at its center.

Now the city likely will go back to the drawing board. And a big part of moving ahead with any plan will include generating support for any development of the high-profile parcel next to the city's civic heart, said Mayor Judy Lazar.

``We have to go back to the community,'' Lazar said. ``Whatever we thought the community said four years ago, the plan didn't meet the expectations of a large number of people. It could be Kilroy's plan or it could be the wrong time, but something's not right.''

At Tuesday's meeting some residents opposed the large multiplex theater planned as the development's center, and others felt the city was taking too big a loss on land it paid $9.1 million for in 1988. The maximum the city would have received for the project was $5.7 million.

Edward Johnduff, the city's special projects manager, has heard several proposals for the site since development was first proposed 10 years ago.

``The council needs to give direction and the community needs to decide whether it wants a commercial project on the property,'' Johnduff said. ``If you want commercial uses, you have to have an anchor, like the movie theaters.''

Many residents, and Councilwomen Linda Parks and Elois Zeanah, said the city did not need another multiplex.

If the city backs a less commercial or noncommercial project, it is unlikely that it will recoup the millions it spent for the property, Johnduff said.

``I had two calls this morning advising that the city should go with a more commercial development so it could make its money back,'' Lazar said. ``But if we went with a $9 million project and the community didn't like it, we still wouldn't have support.''

Lazar said that she would expect the next developer to take a greater role in generating support for the project.

``They buy it, they build it, they manage it,'' she said. ``They'll have to help generate the support.''

One council member also acknowledged that the public has high expectations for the parcel next to a civic plaza that some residents feel was overbuilt.

``People are afraid it would be the Civic Arts Plaza all over again,'' Parks said. ``That plan started out as a small city hall and community theater and look how it ended up - a huge complex.''

Lazar added that with time, the community's goals and outlook toward the land may change.

``It's time to sit back and rest for a while,'' she said. ``Perhaps with greater distance in time another proposal will appear more acceptable.''