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Heart of City under locals’ microscope
by Jason Dietrich
Reaction was mixed at a neighborhood meeting for districts 1 and 2, which make up seaside Redondo, to discuss the Heart of the City Specific Plan.
Boardwalk merchants said they wanted more customers. Condo owners said they wanted less traffic. Cyclists said they wanted a bike path closer to the water. Boaters have opposed running The Strand near the docks.
Councilman Kevin Sullivan, who ran the meeting, said that the controversial parts of the plan focused on a small part of its total area.
"We could probably build 70 to 80 percent of this plan without any opposition," said Sullivan, who represents District 2.
The city will hold a scoping session Thursday, May 3 to gather public input on what to study as part of the specific plan’s environmental impact review, which will examine the project’s impact on the surrounding area. The meeting will be 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Redondo Beach Public Library’s second floor meeting room, 303 N. Pacific Coast Highway.
Topics such as land use and planning, population and housing, air quality, noise, traffic, hazardous materials, utilities, aesthetics, cultural resources and recreation will likely be studied in the review.
Meeting participants will get a chance to review the specific plan, which was released April 16, and is available at the library’s reference desk. The plan is also available on the city’s website, www.redondo.org, and a list of answers to frequently asked questions about the Heart of the City is in the works.
Officials estimate the review will take 90 days. It will be followed by a 45-day comment period. City Manager Lou Garcia says he hopes the specific plan will come before the planning commission in August. Following the environmental review, the plan must make its way through two city commissions and the city council before seeking additional approval from the Coastal Commission.
The city council on Tuesday approved the hiring of an independent market research company to analyze the real estate market and help ensure that the city plans a development that’s marketable in the face of a potential recession and a looming energy crisis.
"You can bet your bottom dollar that the harbor area is going to be developed one way or another. It’s too valuable not to. By taking control of the planning process we’re much more likely to get the kind of project we want," Garcia said.
City officials said they want to get it right the first time, because once the review has been completed, any changes to the plan send it back to the beginning of the process.
"Once it’s in place it can’t be changed without going through the entire process again," said Assistant City Manager Sue Armstrong.
Saturday, meeting participants said the plan appeared to be gaining momentum and would already be difficult to change. Some residents expressed concern that higher density housing along the waterfront would create a more congested urban atmosphere like Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. Others said they were worried that the area would become a regional draw.
"I’d like to be able to walk to a theater too but I’m not willing to pay the price in crime, noise, and traffic," said harbor-area resident Marcene Mioni.
Officials said the area is not going to become a theme park or a shopping mall, emphasizing the advantages of the design in terms of usable pedestrian spaces that would take the place of the city’s parking lots.
"One thing we hope to do is make it clear that the plan really does improve access to open space, particularly the way the Strand and the Greenbelt are extended. We need to get across how those spaces are going to work," Armstrong said.
Dean Francois, a public works commissioner and cycling activist said that the current plans, showing the Strand emptying onto Harbor Drive and then running through the village core, don’t compare with earlier designs that ran the path closer to the water.
"The Strand is the lifeline of this project. Originally the focus of the proposal was on it, but the plan has drifted away from that original idea. We’d like to see the Strand going through the harbor area instead of along its edges, served by small businesses catering to it," Francois said.
Harbor area businesses people questioned why more wasn’t being done to improve the area if the city is so intent on developing it.
"We’re being ignored in this," said harbor-area businessman Jim Craig.
Written comments and suggestions on topics to be included in the environmental review will be accepted until Thursday, May 17. Comments should be mailed to William Meeker, Planning Director, City of Redondo Beach, 415 Diamond Street, Redondo Beach, CA 90277. More information is available by calling the Redondo Beach planning department at 318-0637. ER