By Mary O’KEEFE

At a Tuesday public hearing meeting of the Los Angeles County Planning Dept. Planet Fitness had a conditional use permit and “minor” parking deviation approved by section head Steven Jareb.

On Aug. 14, 2025, representatives from Hirsch Green Transportation Consulting and Planet Fitness attended the Crescenta Valley Land Use Committee (LUC) where the local committee approved the minor parking deviation. 

Planet Fitness is proposing to move into the former La Crescenta Rite Aid property at 2647 Foothill Blvd. The building has been vacant since January 2024. 

According to the county code, a fitness center has a higher parking requirement than what was previously needed for the Rite Aid site. The Marketplace Shopping Center currently provides 434 parking spaces. A study was conducted by Hirsch Green Transportation Consulting to evaluate how many parking spaces would actually be needed for Planet Fitness. The study observed the parking utilization of the shopping center from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during a normal week and weekend. The reduction would be 13% from the required 497 parking spaces to 434 spaces that are now available. 

During the LUC meeting, LA County planner Joshua Pereira presented floor plans that showed fitness equipment, machines and stations that Planet Fitness proposed. 

“There is no proposed changed to the existing parking stalls or the parking lot,” Pereira said. 

Jareb said the proposed conditions are “pretty simple and straightforward.”

However he did have a few questions and additions. At Tuesday’s meeting he asked the Planet Fitness representatives if they were planning to have any classes, or sessions, outside of the building. The representatives said they were not planning on having anything outside. 

Larry [Lawrence] Luckwaldt is the managing member of the Planet Fitness ownership group. During the meeting he introduced himself as the “franchisee of Planet Fitness.”

“I own 14 locations in LA County. I started here in LA County. We service a number of people already that are in this commercial corridor [along the foothills] that go to other locations,” he said. 

He said the motive for moving to the La Crescenta location was to bring the gym closer to those who are already members. 

He added that in other Planet Fitness locations in LA County, a lot of community outreach has been done, including holding an annual toy drive and food drives for Boys and Girls Clubs.

“During the Eaton Fire we opened all of our locations to anybody in the community, [including] first responders,” he said. 

He opened the location for others, regardless of membership, to provide support including having school children use Planet Fitness WiFi for homework. 

“We just love being part of the community,” Luckwaldt said.

Planet Fitness representative Aaron Clark added they had come to the Crescenta Valley Town Council meeting in order to meet with members of the community.

“We had a really robust discussion with them. It’s a wonderful council,” he said.

Jareb said he noticed that the business would be offering massages.

“What types of massage services are you intending to offer?” Jareb asked.

“These are massage machines,” Luckwaldt responded. “There is no human-to-human contact.”

The permits were approved. 

CVW reached out to Planet Fitness after the approval for comment; however, representatives had not responded by press time.