Arcadia council approves inflatable play area at Santa Anita Mall

The Arcadia City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a temporary operating permit for a FunBox inflatable play area in the parking lot of The Shops at Santa Anita Mall.

The play area is designed for children under 12, but there are no age restrictions, city staff members reported. The FunBox will run from March 1 through May 23 and operate from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

FunBox is administered by Hallier Investments, according to the city staff report.

This temporary outdoor facility will be larger than the play area located inside the Arcadia mall near the food court. The facility can accommodate up to 400 people, but FunBox representatives expect a maximum of 330 people to attend per allotted time slot, city staff reported.

FunBox patrons purchase time-slot tickets online or at the site for 1.5-hour designations.

In response to a question from Councilwoman Sharon Kwan who asked if the other FunBox locations in Woodland Hills and Torrance have had any incidents involving vehicles colliding with the play area, a FunBox representative said no crashes have occurred to date.

“In the past we haven’t had any accidents,” Josué Lovos told the council. “We have an eight-foot perimeter fence around, we also block off some of the parking lanes so we won’t have any traffic close to our site.”

The play area’s electrical generator “shall be enclosed and protected from public access,” and “all electrical cords shall be free from defects and be appropriately protected,” according to the staff report. 

Several city agencies including the fire and police departments, Engineering Services Department, Planning and Building Services and the Public Works Services Department reviewed the FunBox application, according to the staff report. “No concerns were raised by any of the departments for the requested permit.”

Arcadia’s agreement with FunBox also provides city entities with legal indemnification.

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