Redondo Beach planning commission cites parking, denies 49-unit building
by Garth Meyer
The Redondo Beach planning commission rejected an application Dec. 18 to build a four-story, 49-unit residential building with commercial space – on the basis of inadequate commercial parking.
Safety concerns lodged by nearby residents were also cited for the project between Pearl Street and Ruby Street on Pacific Coast Highway.
The building would have included eight affordable units – from very low income to mid – and be built on ground zoned as commercial.
Since the land is west of PCH, it is within the city’s Local Coastal Program; requiring one parking spot for every 250 square feet of commercial space.
“It’s short 24 spaces,” Planning Commissioner Gale Hazeltine told Easy Reader. “That’s 24 families who aren’t able to have access to the beach and Pier. If it was on the other side of the street, it’s a different story.”
The proposed building was eligible in a commercial area because it is mixed use.
Since it would offer at least 15% of its units as affordable, the project could invoke the California “Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022 (AB2011),” which allows for taller buildings and more units, if enough of the units qualify as affordable.
The applicant, Redondo Seaside Living, has the right to appeal the planning commission’s ruling to the city council.
Seaside Living’s plans feature two large, ground-floor commercial spaces (17,000 square feet) and would follow the tear-down of three existing structures on the mostly empty lot (which hosts a Christmas tree sale in December and pumpkin event in October).
Redondo Beach city staff recommended that the planning commission approve the project because it qualifies under state law. It would have 105 parking spaces, all underground.
Planning Commissioners also cited Seaside Living’s lack of a parking study.
“They would have to have one, but they never did one,” Hazeltine said. “We can’t make a decision if we don’t have the information. We want people to live at the beach; we want affordable housing. That’s not the issue. If you’re going to put up a building with commercial, you have to have enough parking.”
Does Hazeltine want the project to ultimately be approved?
“Of course, it needs to get approved, we need more housing,” she said. “Just park it.”
“We’ve approved almost 400 units this year,” Planning Commission chair Wayne Craig told Easy Reader, referring to 350 in the parking lot of South Bay Galleria, and a 43-unit building at Vincent Street and Pacific Coast Highway. “Any kind of portrayal that this (latest decision) is anti-anything is ridiculous. This is just about parking for commercial.”
Craig concurred with residents at the Dec. 18 meeting about safety matters too, noting the nearby fire station’s trucks passing by on Pearl Street, overflow parking and congestion. Members of the public also noted marred views and property values.
“That whole area is already a bad situation,” Craig said.
The city’s Local Coastal Program is designed to make sure development is consistent with the state Coastal Commission’s focus to ensure public access to the ocean.
The local program, an agreement between the city and the Coastal Commission, came about after the high-rise development of the Redondo Beach Esplanade in the 1960s and ‘70s. ER