‘Rossmoor People’ off base
Dear Editor,
I just can’t believe the attitude of all the Rossmoor people who are opposed to plans for the new L.A. Fitness location in Seal Beach. I’m not sure where these Rossmoor people are getting their information, but I’ve never in my life seen anyone living in their cars in a gym parking lot because they can’t afford to live close to work. I challenge any of them to show me an example of this.
As for the noise concerns, it’s obvious none of these Rossmoor people have ever been inside of an L.A. Fitness location because they are widely known as some of they quietest fitness facilities in the country.
I’m also appalled that they contend that a “gym” will bring crime to their sub-division. This is a fitness facility, not a meth lab! If that Rossmoor wall isn’t making them feel safe, then perhaps they should install a gate, like the one over at Leisure World. The real crimes are those atrocious McMansions they are allowing to be built inside Rossmoor.
What these Rossmoor people should be more concerned about is that it’s an L.A. Fitness when what we really need is a REAL gym such as a Golds Gym, Powerhouse Gym or World Gym and not just a fitness center.
Putting my muscle where my mouth is,
Chris Mitchell Kingry
Seal Beach
Editor’s note: The following is a letter to the Seal Beach Department of Community Development from January from the Rossmoor Homeowners Association Board of Directors. The author has given the News Enterprise permission to publish that letter here.
The Rossmoor Homeowners Association has reviewed various plans and analyses for the LA Fitness Club Project at the Shops of Rossmoor and has serious concerns about the adequacy of the parking and traffic analysis. We would like to file these comments for the EIR.
The RHA has long worked with adjacent cities, the Los Alamitos Unified School District and the County of Orange on traffic impacts within and outside our community. The county and the school district have undertaken extensive and costly efforts to mitigate traffic congestion during school hours, which impacts not only Rossmoor residents but many Seal Beach parents who drive their children into one of Rossmoor’s four elementary schools.
We are concerned that the analysis for this high volume retail establishment could reverse the improvements that the school district, the very district that serves your city, and the county have undertaken.
At its own cost, the school district has begun a program offering low cost bus service to the Rossmoor schools from Seal Beach and has cited about 200 families that are subscribing to the service each day. The health club is almost certain to add many more vehicle trips than that to Rossmoor streets.
We are particularly concerned about increased traffic volumes on St. Cloud and Montecito roads, which carry large volumes of vehicles to Rossmoor Elementary School, as well as Weaver Elementary and Hopkinson Elementary. It also is a main pedestrian and bicycle route to the schools.
The city must require the developer to improve the analysis on how future patrons will access the club. The main entrance seems to be west bound on Rossmoor Center Way, an access road that is already congested from serving the large number of retail stores at the front of the complex.
One serious potential problem is that visitors to the sports center will find an alternative route through Rossmoor, accessing the club eastbound on Rossmoor Center Way or from a freight entrance at the stop of sign of Copa De Oro. Either route would cause serious traffic problems during school hours. Moreover, the freight entrance does not appear to be properly engineered for general traffic, even though it would provide access to the club.
The other issue of serious concern is the informal agreement that the Shops of Rossmoor made to allow Seal Beach residents in nearby apartments to park in the lot that is slated for development. The accommodation relieved the problem of Seal Beach residents of the apartments parking in Rossmoor in front of private homes. If this accommodation is lost, Seal Beach must find a solution to the overflow parking from the apartments.
The RHA has heard overwhelming opposition to the development of the health club. While we believe economic development in many cases is a positive for our community, we want it to be done without impairing the safety of pedestrians, congesting our residential streets or causing overflow parking into neighborhoods.
Beverley Houghton
RHA President
