Unhealthy Healthy Campus
Dear ER:
Letter writer Vijay Jeste wrote in support of the current Healthy Living Campus building plan proposed by the Board of Directors of the Beach Cities Health District (‘Yes, Build It’, ER Letters Dec. 5, 2019). The writer mentions the inconvenience of occasional teardowns and construction of single family homes in the Beach Cities as a comparison with the Healthy Living Campus development, a 15 year project. The BCHD campus is located near the top of a hill. Prevailing wind is from the ocean. Residents and a school in the city of Torrance east of the campus will receive most of the unhealthy air resulting from demolition, excavation, construction, and vehicular movement. The Towers Elementary School playground is located 450 feet downwind of the BCHD buildings proposed for demolishment. Students spending time outdoors in the schoolyard could be subject to a lot of unhealthy air and be at risk of health problems. The writer mentions increasing numbers of plus 65 seniors in the three Beach Cities. Few of those seniors will likely be able or willing to pay as much as $9,000 monthly at the Healthy Living Campus senior housing. The Healthy Living Campus development will cause problems for nearby residents and students, few of whom will ever be able to benefit much from it.
Robert London
Redondo Beach
Not complicated
Dear ER:
I am disappointed to hear the following words attributed to Hermosa Beach Councilman Justin Massey: “…his colleague regularly invoked hypertechnical interpretations of the Brown Act.” (“Fangary files suit over mayor rotation,” ER Dec. 12, 2019) The California Brown Act’s stated purpose is to ensure the decision making process is carried out in open sunlight and is as transparent as possible. It helps keep local elected officials from abusing their powers. A governmental body is either in compliance with the Brown Act or not. There are no “hypertechnical” parts of the Brown Act, a high school student can understand it. In the future, I hope Massey can find better words to describe how he feels of anyone asking for Hermosa Beach to comply with the Brown Act.
Chrisopher D. Boyle
EasyReaderNews comment
A tall order
Dear ER:
Beach Cities Health District neighbors are aghast at a 10-15 year construction project that is two-thirds the size of Staples Center (600,000 square feet). The BCHD’s Healthy Living Campus, at 60-feet tall, built on the far perimeter of the 30-foot tall BCHD “hill,” is 70- to 120-feet taller than the surrounding homes. Its windows look into bedrooms, bathrooms, and yards of approximately 1,000 surrounding homes. It’s been objected to by the neighbors for a year now. Walled cities date from 800 BC and were invented to be visually offensive. The BCHD design is imposing on the local neighbors. I am a member of the BCHD Community Working Group and I filed formal comments in April to the Board when it was clear that they were ignoring the neighbors. One of the largest issues is the fact that BCHD is planning to serve a 200 square mile area, from Marina del Rey to Compton to Long Beach to Pedro. That’s a huge area, and this compound will burden the “beach cities” of Hermosa, Manhattan and Redondo, and especially the immediate neighbors, with the environmental impacts of any area 10 times our size.
Mark Nelson
Member, BCHD Community Working Group
Jon one of the guys
Dear ER:
I grew up with Jon Burt. I lived one block over, on Eighth Street in Hermosa Beach (Hermosa’s ‘Turkey Jon’ Burt remembered,” ER Dec. 5, 2019). Jon lived on Seventh. I was in kindergarten with him at Prospect Heights. He would often come to my house after school. My mom babysat him for his mom Wilma. I never saw any difference in Jon as a little dude in kindergarten. It wasn’t until we were at Pier Avenue Junior High that people noticeably regarded him as different. Puberty was playing a huge part in his life and the “guys” encouraged him to say things to girls that the rest of us only dreamed of. Occasionally he’d find himself at the end of Mr. Turner’s short fuze or in Mr. Boston’s office for one of his romantic exercises. However, his heart was good as gold. He learned some crazy behavior from a whole panoply of characters through the years — a lot of good too. He was lucky to live in the ‘60s in Hermosa Beach. We all tried to look out for him. His mom worked so hard to shape and care for him. She was an amazing citizen of Hermosa — supporting or fighting through all kinds of civic affairs. Blessings on you Brother Jon; I hope they have a nice Strand Cruiser for you on the other side.
Jeff Gallup
EasyReaderNews.com comment
Redondo needs parks
Dear ER:
This lot would be fine for a public parkette (“Redondo plans sale of contested surplus land,” ER Dec. 12, 2019). One-quarter of the city’s parkettes are the size of this lot. And there is no reason the parkette could not be made ADA compliant. Parkettes are defined in the City’s Parks and Rec Element as parks for the local neighborhood within a five minute walk So ADA parking should not be required. There are curb cuts for ADA access immediately in front of the land. Several current parkettes are along busy streets. The City’s reasons for saying this could not be a park are fabricated. Redondo Beach is park poor by state definitions. We are the only beach city in the South Bay that does not meet the state minimum standard (and yes that is even when you include the county beach). There is no reason to give up current public property for yet another residential unit. And of course, the City’s charter requires that turning any publicly owned land into privately owned land requires a vote of the people.
Jim Light
Redondo Beach
