At a meeting meant to unveil Forum's plans and gather input, more than 200 Sunnyvale residents turned out to speak, with most voices adamantly opposed to the tall buildings, upscale shopping and almost 300 homes proposed for the project.

The meeting, held by the development group—which plans to build a 500,000-square-foot complex of shops, homes and businesses downtown—brought planning commissioners, former council members, business leaders and residents to the Sunnyvale Senior Center.

The input was supposed to help the developer craft a more precise plan for the next public meeting on April 29, but the overall feeling was not one of cooperation from the public. Some who spoke criticized the traffic that would be caused by attracting shoppers to the now-empty Town Center Mall, and others even suggested that a revitalized downtown area is not needed.

The floor opened up for public comment after a presentation by Forum managing member Ron Pfohl and his colleagues, including representatives from Dougherty, Shroeder & Associates, the lead architects on the project, Standard Pacific Homes and other firms.

Those who spoke were quick to criticize the high-priced, tall retail buildings and traffic impacts of the project. In addition to around 300 residential units, plans call for 200,000 feet of office space, a 16-screen movie theater and more than 4,500 parking spaces.

According to a plan statement, Forum is attempting to build "An enhanced, traditional downtown, serving the community with a variety of destinations in a pedestrian-friendly environment."

Forum has been involved in the plans to redevelop the Town Center Mall for a year and a half now, and have begun finalizing their master plan and applying for permits since their partner, Lehman Brothers, purchased the JCPenney building from Harvest Partners in February. Currently, the mall sits empty, with only Target and Macys still operating on the lot.

Forum's presentation showed a number of open-air shopping districts that the developer has been involved with around the nation and cited San Jose's Santana Row as an example of a development bringing shopping back to a struggling area.

But Paul Reed, president of the Friends of Sunnyvale said that a cramped, crowded downtown full of chain retailers is not what Sunnyvale is after. His sentiment was echoed by many in attendance, among concerns that stores like Abercrombie & Fitch were not going to cater to the moderate incomes of Sunnyvale residents.

"Santana Row is not what we desire," longtime resident Arthur Schwartz said, to a chorus of applause from the other attendees.

Joe Antuzzi, head of the Sunnyvale Downtown Association, said that the downtown does not need a sparkling new development like Forum is proposing because areas like Murphy Street are surviving even in struggling times. Instead of a new street grid, the city was getting nothing more than a wall between the traditional shopping areas and the proposed "new" downtown.

And while the overwhelming majority of voices seemed opposed to many of the plans set forth by Forum and their partners, some, like Sunnyvale Community Services director Nancy Tivol and frequent council watcher Jack Rowe said that there at least needs to be an attempt to revitalize the area.

"If the best efforts of the planning staff, the planning commission, the city council and an experienced developer fail, we will still have made a 'best effort' try," Rowe said.

The next Forum-sponsored meeting is Thursday, April 29 in the Historic Del Monte building, 100 S. Murphy Ave., from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Formal meetings will also be held by the city at later dates. For information, visit www.sunnyvale.ca.gov or call project planner Kelly Diekmann at 408.730.7659.