Willow Glen Resident
News
Shopping center looks to expand theater, add a 24-Hour Fitness
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte
Plans for a 24-Hour Fitness at the Willow Glen Plaza shopping center are looking good.
The San Jose Planning Department met with residents on Oct. 16 at the Willows Senior Center to discuss 24-Hour Fitness' request to move in the shopping center along with the expansion of the Cinelux Theaters.
The conditional use permit would allow the theater to add 4,860 square feet, which would enlarge the theater viewing rooms. The owners would also add wall-to-wall screens, Dolby Digital sound and luxury love seats. The 24-Hour Fitness wants to open in an existing space and add a 2,800-square-foot mezzanine to the gym.
City planner Erin Morris said only three residents attended the meeting, but she, along with San Jose Councilman Ken Yeager's assistant Tony Filice, and 24-Hour Fitness representative Jeff Moore received several phone calls from residents supporting the new business. There were no comments about the theater's expansion.
During peak hours, the parking lot for the Cinelux Theater fills up, and one resident was afraid there will be an overflow of parking into the nearby neighborhoods.
San Jose has a slightly reduced parking requirement for shopping centers that have 100,000 square feet or greater of commercial space, Morris said. The shopping center's current commercial usage is 92,343 square feet.
"If this project expands the shopping center by adding square footage to the theater and the gym, that will bring them over the 100,000," Morris said.
The current parking requirements are based on separate mixed uses. Retail, restaurants and offices all have their own requirements, but if the shopping center can grow to more than 100,000 square feet, the parking requirements for the whole center will be one space per 225 feet.
Cinelux Theater vice president Howard Taormino sees this as an opportunity to provide residents will more services.
"We are giving Willow Glen an intimate, charming movie theater," Taormino said. "The 24-Hour Fitness will be a nice complement to the shopping center and the neighborhood."
Taormino does not believe parking is an issue.
"There's so much parking available at the center it's unbelievable," he said.
