Political Newcomer Named to Planning Commission

By Teresa Rochester

Political newcomer Anthony Loui, an urban planner and architect, was appointed Tuesday night to the city's powerful Planning Commission by the City Council. He will fill the vacancy left by chair Ken Breisch, who resigned in May.

Loui, who is vice president of the non-profit organization Southern California Transit Advocates, was appointed to the commission that decides the fate of new developments in a 4 to 3 vote.

Loui's appointment came after he, as well as Laurel Reneau, a staunch slow-growth advocate, and former Planning Commissioner Matt Kanny, a moderate who was not re-appointed after his term expired last month, failed to garner the necessary votes.

Loui, who owns Anthony Loui Design, an independent design and planning consulting firm, has experience in transportation planning and is a supporter of smart growth. He said he is interested in seeing the city become more pedestrian friendly by creating small scale walking areas. He also supports business retention and economic development.

"My development philosophy is to build appropriately so a city can sustain itself over a long period of time," Loui said Wednesday. "A development that is environmentally responsible lowers the demand on the city's resources. Basically it's using less for more."

Loui's appointment to the seat vacated by Breisch, who quit after citing an increased workload at his teaching job at USC, signals the almost complete makeover of the commission in recent memory. The commission has lost all of its veteran members and is now comprised of commissioners who have served less than one year.

Loui is one of three new commissioners appointed this month by the council's Santa Monicans for Renters Rights super-majority. Loui, who is a renter but not a member of SMRR, joins slow-growth advocates Geraldine Moyle and Julie Lopez Dad, who were sworn in earlier this month. They replaced Kanny and Eric Parlee whose terms expired in June.

There is still one seat to fill. John Zinner, a seven-year veteran of the commission, resigned earlier this month, citing the commission's "radically different approach." Zinner was the only commissioner left with more than a year experience.

The freshman commission is scheduled to hear two major developments - the new RAND headquarters at the Civic Center and the proposed Target store in the heart of downtown. Loui said he has concerns about both projects.

"I need to study RAND more closely because it [the project] is different than what's defined in the Civic Center Specific Plan," Loui said. As for Target, he said that "one of the big issues will be how to fit a big box, a retail configuration, into downtown.

"It's not quite a match," Loui said. "With the customer profiles for Target you'd expect a lot of car trips made at that store. That's going to be a really big issue… It could potentially kill downtown."

A newcomer to Santa Monica's political scene, Loui was approached to apply for the open seat by current member Darrell Clarke. The two are advocates of the Los Angeles Exposition Light Rail project.