The City of Avalon will consider the findings of an initial study aimed at predicting environmental effects potentially caused by the proposed Vons Grocery Store (240 Sumner).
This will be heard at the upcoming Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 19, which will start at 6 p.m.
The leading agency in this case will present findings that the store will not harm or effect the environment in accordance with the Environment Quality Act. It will prepare and submit a Draft Negative Declaration/Mitigated Negative Declaration for review.
The City of Avalon will consider the findings of an initial study aimed at predicting environmental effects potentially caused by the proposed Vons Grocery Store (240 Sumner).
This will be heard at the upcoming Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 19, which will start at 6 p.m.
The leading agency in this case will present findings that the store will not harm or effect the environment in accordance with the Environment Quality Act. It will prepare and submit a Draft Negative Declaration/Mitigated Negative Declaration for review.
A negative declaration essentially means there would be no environmental impact from the project. A mitigated negative declaration means that steps to minimize the impact will be acceptable.
Vons has served Avalon since 1987. The original store at 123 Metropole Ave. comprised one of two grocery stores on the island, with the other being Fred and Sally’s, but the Santa Catalina Island Company sold the lease for the latter in 1999. This allowed Vons to open a second store in the form of a Vons Express, but this decision created controversy.
With no other grocery store on the island, other than two Vons, the government declared that Vons violated federal monopoly laws.
The government decided the store could be closed if another business decided to buy it.
The new store has gained support. Vons senior management recently met with the Board of Directors of the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, which voted to support the new store. Vons reportedly would not build on a property it did not own, so it purchased a building off Beacon Street from the Santa Catalina Island Company.
The store will be approximately 20,000 feet, which Brian Braatan, vice president, Vons Real Estate, said will make it much smaller than “prototypical mainland stores,” but “twice the size” of two other Vons on Avalon.
