Packo Investments, owners of two of the shopping centers at the intersection, sent a letter to Buena Park July 23^rd stating that 54 of their tenants at McComber Center (5400 Beach Blvd.) and Gordon Square (5301 Beach Blvd.) oppose this years event. 

Arirang officials have since said that 30 of those tenants have “reversed their decision and support the festival.”

Officials from Super One Foods, located at the southwest corner of the intersection, have indicated they would support the festival this time around, but would prefer it be in a different location next year.

Referring to the four-day street closure, Oh said, “It may be inconvenient, but is very exciting to close the street off for this event.”

The closure will affect thousands of motorists over the four-day period.

Looking at a map of the area, the streets most likely to be affected as drivers are attempting to maneuver around the detour are Calverton Drive, which eventually turns into Stanton Avenue; also McComber Road, along the border of the two cities, looks like it has the potential to be adversely affected.

“It’s called La Mirada Boulevard but it’s in Buena Park,” Buena Park Mayor Steve Berry told us, “we are not closing anything within their community we’re only closing it within our community.”

When asked about the possible impact on La Mirada residents Berry said, “Sure it will affect them, it will affect us too, both of us equally I assume. It will probably affect Whittier and unincorporated LA County probably even more than La Mirada.”

Berry said the city of Buena Park has many employees who live in La Mirada and they will be affected as well.

“I understand it is an inconvenience, but we’re talking about a festival that happens one weekend a year and we’re doing everything we can to mitigate as much of the inconvenience as possible, however we are creating an inconvenience, sure.”

“La Mirada, I’m sure creates inconveniences too, if they have a well that goes down and they have to reconstruct part of the street, across Alondra (example) to get to my house and they have to redirect traffic; also the 5 freeway is a major inconvenience right now with all that construction going on.”

When we asked Berry if Buena Park has a parking plan and a comprehensive plan for detours including proper signage for motorists, he referred us to Oh, who he said “had all the details.”

The La Mirada Blog has also learned La Mirada Mayor Larry Mowles sent a letter, early on in the process expressing his concerns, personally to Berry who reportedly deferred the letter to Buena Park City Manager Jim Vanderpool.

“Sure La Mirada is sending me letters, but early on they could have contacted other local agencies also,” Berry said.

He suggested that agencies such as CalTrans, the local bus agency (OCTA), and the Sheriffs could have stopped the event, saying festival organizers still need permission from them as well, “Early on, all we did was give them the permission to close the street with additional conditions to meet.”

“We were very disappointed to learn Buena Park has moved forward with approving La Mirada Blvd. as the location for this event,” says Mowles, “We remain concerned about traffic congestion, increased cut-through traffic in local neighborhoods, and potential delays in public safety response.  The location for this event just doesn’t make practical sense.”

For more information on the planned closure, you may contact Buena Park City Hall at (714) 562-3500.