Big Bear Lake’s Paine Road is one step closer to being renamed Big Bear Boulevard, given yesterday’s Planning Commission decision in favor of the name change. Prompted by a request from the Village Business Association and as suggested by the City’s Redevelopment Director Lyle Haynes, Paine Road, which currently links Village Drive, Lakeview Drive and Big Bear Boulevard/Highway 18, will be streamlined into a continuous Big Bear Boulevard, from Red Ant Hill to east beyond the Big Bear Lake Post Office. At present, per the City’s Director of Building and Planning Jim Miller, there are about 20 properties on this segment of Paine Road, where businesses such as LeRoy’s Sporting Goods and Village Pizza are located, and, in order to correspond with Big Bear Boulevard, some addresses will require renumbering. The Planning Commission also approved a name change to Big Bear Boulevard for a small portion of Lakeview Drive, from Paine to Pine Knot, though these street numbers already correspond to the sequence of addresses along the Boulevard. The northern-most portion of Paine Road, near the MWD offices and Big Bear Marina, will be renamed Paine Court. The fluidity of the street name, making it Big Bear Boulevard all the way along Highway 18, is in an effort to make it easier for visitors to (and residents of) the Big Bear Valley. The name change proposal will next go to City Council for vote on December 14 and, if approved, will be implemented following a mandated 90-day waiting period.
In other news from the Planning Commission meeting of November 18, the tree replacement agreement with Walgreens on the Moonridge Y was approved. Two Jeffrey Pines–one about 15 feet tall, the other about 100 feet—have died and, given the three-year tree agreement between the retailer and the City, these must be replaced within 90 days. As larger pines are unavailable at this time, and it is not the season to plant Jeffrey Pines, the Planning Commission agreed that four Red Oaks and Maples (these nearly 20 feet tall) would be acceptable alternatives to replace the pines and, all told, will bring the total number of trees on the Moonridge Y from 14 to 16.
The Commission also granted an extension to the A.J. Acosta Company, from December 31 to June 1, to complete some property improvements, including repairs to a gate and employee and public parking lots. The Acosta Company, located on the Boulevard near the Moonridge Y, has already complied with earlier City requests, including the major feature the City was asking for, which was the installation of a block wall.
