October 11, 1996 Dear Neighbor: Thank you for your past support against the Old Town movie theater complex. On Tuesday, October 15, the Monrovia City Council will decide whether to approve or deny the 2,700 seat, 12 screen project. We hope you can attend their 7:30 p.m. meeting. Recently, representatives from the City of Monrovia held neighborhood update meetings. We appreciated the chance to discuss the impact the theater could have on our community. However, we still believe the theater as proposed is not in the best interest of our neighborhood. Planned parking will not accommodate the demands of the theater and the downtown merchants. The City is proposing shared parking using the 1,250 parking spaces in and around the Old Town district. They plan to add less than 100 parking spaces to support the additional 400 space parking demand per showing. The theater is expected to revitalize the Old Town area. Movie patrons will be encouraged to shop and dine around the theater. The parking demand could exceed an average of 1,000 cars! Parking could extend to already crowded residential streets. The increased traffic in and around Old Town will create a backlog on Myrtle, Lemon, Lime, Ivy and Primrose and the hours of operation extend to 12:30 a.m.! We are concerned about the potential for increased crime and vandalism. Car alarms and foot traffic will create a nuisance that is intolerable at that late hour. We believe there are other viable locations for a theater that would still benefit the Old Town district, while protecting our charming family environment. We can stop the theater by showing our City Council that area residents are against the project. Please share this information with as many friends and neighbors as you can and urge their attendance at the meeting. There is a chance we can stop the project through the presence of a vocal community effort. Time is running out... Won't you join us on October 15? We CAN fight City Hall! If you need more information, please call 303-0668 or 305-9280. Best regards, Citizens of Monrovia Against the Old Town Movie Theater |