Would you like an Oil Change with your Lumber, sir?

Last Monday's community meeting in Sunland-Tujunga, regarding Home Depot, drew close to 400 people, including reps from the Mayor's office, Brad Shermans's office, CD2, LADBS, City Planning, The Daily News, Senator Jim Alger (and handsome newborn son, John Robert), NC & Homeowner group reps from Pacoima, Sun Valley, Lakeview Terrace, Shadow Hills, Sylmar, La Tuna Canyon, Kagel Canyon, and Foothill Trails, just to name a few.

But what the meeting really brought out was an amazing revelation from both Home Depot and the Department of Building and Safety-

Home Depot must either continue doing Auto Repair
at the old K-Mart, or they must not use that area of the store at all!

The old K-Mart once housed a Penske Auto Center, and Home Depot had originally planned to turn it into their Pro Desk area. However to do that, Home Depot would have had to apply for a change of use permit, something that would have triggered the Specific Plan Review and the environmental assessment that the No Home Depot Campaign believes Home Depot must undergo.

When confronted on the issue, Home Depot's Rep, Richard Greene, admitted that Home Depot has no intent of performing auto repairs at this location. A red faced David Keim, from LADBS, stammered and spewed, and then said he would look more closely at their application, and perhaps have the City Attorney do the same!

So why would LADBS approve Home Depot's plans that indicate
the Auto Repair use would remain the same?

We can only come to one or more of the following conclusions:
1. LADBS has never been to a Home Depot.
2. LADBS is in collusion with Home Depot to get their permits
approved without environmental scrutiny.
3. Home Depot falsely represented their intentions
(a crime, by the way).
4. Home Depot wants to get into the auto repair business
at some point in the future.

Furthermore, Richard Greene was asked how purchases of lumber, masonry, carpet, etc., would be loaded out of Home Depot and onto the trucks of contractors without the benefit of the auto center roll-up doors. His response was that they would use manual labor to carry the large items to the small front door, where forklifts would be standing by.

HUH?

Sounds like a very unsafe traffic jam at the front door to us!
This would also reduce the overall size of the Home Depot by thousands of square feet, and would cause Home Depot to store even more materials outside (another violation of the Specific Plan).

The LA Weekly reported that Home Depot attorney, Cindy Starrett, actually drafted the language to LADBS to help Home Depot bypass any environmental scrutiny, so Conclusion #2 is looking like the leading contender, followed closely by Conclusion #3.
Here is the excerpt from the LA Weekly:

"As we discussed, Cindy’s last e-mail stated that things were under control,” wrote policy analyst Perry Singerman, who then suggested that Starrett draft language for the planning department and Building and Safety. “I believe that in [Greuel’s district], HD should not have a problem,” he added.


Well, we hate to disappoint you, Mr Singerman, but Home Depot, the LADBS, and perhaps even Ms Starrett, appear to have a very BIG problem!


(Mr. Singerman, by the way, is the MAYOR's Director of Mixed Use Projects).