Sandbox 3-2-2017
Sandbox
Yes on C stops Mall by the Sea
by Martin Holmes
President, Rescue Our Waterfront
The City of Redondo Beach is giving away our harbor for 99 years to build a risky, $400 million mall. If it succeeds, residents lose because traffic doubles adding 12,550 cars trips per day. If it fails, the City is stuck with a bankrupt mall to maintain. This is a lose-lose for residents.
The City forfeits $3 million of annual harbor profit today for $250,000 annually from CenterCal. If the mall is successful, the City won’t make a profit for 16 to 23 years. If it is less successful, the City won’t see a profit ever. CenterCal CEO Fred Bruning testified they have 65 Letters of Intent. Rent could increase to $10 a square foot per month. Most business pay $2 a square foot today and do not have a Letter of Intent – they may be forced to close. Do you really think this mall will survive 99 years?
If the mall succeeds, we still lose on quality of life. It doubles traffic with 12,550 additional daily car trips. The 524,000 square foot project is the size of five Walmarts (average 105,000 square feet). It builds a 700-seat movie theater, 120 room boutique hotel, over 100 stores and restaurants, and an additional 272,000 square foot parking garage. Although it doubles development, it only adds 7 percent more parking.
If that’s not enough, the mall isn’t safe. The project paves over one-third of Seaside Lagoon, opening it to dangerously polluted harbor water deemed unhealthy by Heal the Bay and an independent water quality engineer. It builds a boat ramp at the most dangerous location in the harbor, a location opposed by harbor safety officials. It forces bicyclists to cross busy mall roads three times in a quarter of a mile.
We can do better. Yes on C establishes common-sense regulations to protect our quality of life and revitalize our waterfront.
- · Requires an accurate traffic analysis, preventing further gridlock
- · Protects public views
- · Prevents paving over public parkland
- · If changes are required to Seaside Lagoon, it ensures a safe replacement for our kids
- · Requires a safe, proper sized boat ramp, saving lives
- · Requires adequate parking and access for harbor recreation
- · Prohibits a giant parking garage in Ruby’s parking lot and new connector road
Don’t believe $450,000 worth of CenterCal lies. Measure C won’t cost taxpayers $200 million and doesn’t require a $25 million pool. The city admitted there’s no factual basis for these fantasy costs. We don’t need a risky mall in order to upgrade our infrastructure and revitalize the pier. The two developers who competed against CenterCal both presented lower density, higher quality projects.
There are many alternatives to fund balanced revitalization. A city consultant testified existing profit from the Harbor Enterprise can finance $54 million of infrastructure upgrades. The boat ramp can be funded by state grants since it meets state standards. Meanwhile commercial improvements can be funded through a public-private partnership.
What’s our 2020 vision for a better Redondo waterfront?
This is our only opportunity in 100 years to create the Redondo coastline we want. We should combine the pier, harbor, and power plant to develop a world-class waterfront, blending low-density commercial development with recreationally focused activities. If you spread the cost and revenue over a larger area, you can reduce density and still achieve a prosperous development. Whether we take a holistic or piecemeal approach, Measure C fosters a public-private partnership with countless options for responsible revitalization.
Yes on C protects our quality of life by implementing common-sense regulations for waterfront improvements that don’t cost taxpayers anything.
Yes on C stops the Mall by the Sea!