Kontroversil Proyek Caruso
Indonesia Media
Sehubungan dengan rencana pengembangan pusat perbelanjaan di kota Arcadia, akhir-akhir membangkitkan Pros dan Cons antara kelompok masyarakat yang setuju dan tidak setuju. Ada indikasi pihak pengelola proyek Caruso , yakni yang akan membangun diatas lahan parkir Santa Anita Race Track (pacuan kuda) mengunakan segala daya upaya untuk mencapai tujuan, termasuk mengundang makan kepada para pemuka masyarakat dan pimpinan organisasi, dan senantiasa melobby para pimpinan dan pengambil keputusan di kota Arcadia. Mereka mengiming-iming Arcadia Unified School District sewa gratis gedung untuk kantor AUSD. Mereka juga berjanji akan memperbaiki system traffic light agar lalu lintas menjadi lancer, dan berjanji tidak akan melakukan aktivitas judi disana.
Keluarga Karsana yang tinggal di Arcadia mengkhawatirkan kemacetan lalu lintas akan bertambah “Belum ada pengembangan West Field Mall Santa Anita saja sudah macet didaerah Balwin Avenue dan Santa Anita Avenue terus ke Rosemead, apalagi ditambah pembangunan proyek Caruso, apalagi kalau ada tambahan dua pusat perbelanjaan lagi (West Field Mall Santa Anita extension, dan The Grove punyannya Caruso)”.
Lain halnya komentar dari Randy penduduk Arcadia di Lower Rancho, “Kami tahu proyek ini akan berdampak luas dari polusi sampai kenaikan tingkat kejahatan, namun banyak masyarakat Asia yang notabene melebihi dari 50% di Arcadia ini masih belum mempunyai hak suara karena mereka banyak yang masih belum warga Negara sehingga belum berhak memutuskan”.
Perlu diketahui bahwa proyek ini sebenarnya ada 2 yaitu yang satu perluasan Shopping Mall dari West Field Santa Anita , dan proyek lainnya yaitu pembangunan pusat perbelanjaan kelas tinggi semacam “The Grove” seperti yang ada di Fairfax. Antara kedua pemilik proyek inipun saling bertikai karena persaingan dagang. Jadi memang rencana ini sarat akan kepentingan berbagai pihak. Yang dikhawatirkan adalah dampaknya akan merugikan penduduk setempat. Namun ada juga penduduk yang bersuara bahwa mereka senang akan ada pusat perbelanjaan kelas tinggi sehingga mereka tidak perlu pergi ke South Coast Plaza dan Rodeo Drive.
Sementara itu David Phung penghuni Arcadia di bilangan The Village menulis surat kepada dewan walikota Arcadia sebagai berikut dibawah ini.
To Arcadia City Council & Arcadia Planning Commission:
I am not affiliated with Westfield Mall or Arcadia First, but I am 100% against the proposal made by Caruso Affiliates to develop the Shops at Santa Anita. If approved, I believe that this project will create dangerous levels of air pollution, additional crime, and unbearable traffic conditions.
According to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Arcadia’s current air quality (without the Shops at Santa Anita) is worse than that of Downtown Los Angeles, primarily due to the foothills trapping of the air. With 1,000,000 additional cars coming into our City each month, this already bad problem will only get worse. According to the EIR, 7.8 Tons of smog pollution will be dispersed into Arcadia’s air each month. The unfortunate and undisputed fact is that there is no method of mitigating air pollution. Our young children with asthma and our elderly with emphysema and other cardiovascular diseases will ultimately be the voiceless victims of this harmful project.
With 30,000-50,000 additional cars each day means more people in our City. Although Caruso supposedly attracts “high-end” customers, there are going to be a few rotten apples in the batch. If only 0.1% of his customers are criminals, that means that we would get at least 30-50 additional criminals per day in our City that would otherwise not be here. When people carpool, which is the more likely scenario, the number of criminals would be even higher. An oversized shopping center with an unnecessary movie theater will not only attract regional customers, it will also attract regional criminals (e.g. child molesters, burglars, rapists, murderers, etc.). The stabbing between gang members in front of the AMC inside the Westfield Mall last year should teach us a lesson of what to avoid in the future.
Caruso Affiliates claim that traffic would be “better” after the Shops at Santa Anita are built. How could adding 30,000-50,000 more cars a day result in “better” traffic?” Regardless of what traffic improvements are made ($10M is just a drop in the bucket considering the high cost of traffic improvements nowadays), it’s inconceivable that traffic could be “better” with that many more cars. Let’s not confuse the term “mitigate” to mean “eliminate.” Arguments have also been made that traffic used to be much worse when the race track attendance was higher. My question is: Why should current Arcadians aspire to live in worse traffic conditions, a thing of the past?
Arguments have been made that the Shops at Santa Anita will bring in huge tax revenues and will be a great place to shop. My question is: At what price? There should be nothing more important than the health and safety of Arcadia residents. I urge you to vote against the Shops at Santa Anita due to all of the negative impacts that the additional air pollution, crime, and traffic will bring. Please consider other alternatives such as a new library, park, school, lake/pond, museum, art gallery, larger community center, performing arts center, etc. that would be less harmful to our beautiful “Community of Homes.” Let’s put public health and safety ahead of greed and materialism. I urge you to say no to Caruso, not in the City of Arcadia.
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