Size limits to build at Beach Cities Health District will not go to voters yet

by Garth Meyer

Building limits for the Beach Cities Health District will not go on a ballot in November.

The Redondo Beach city council voted Tuesday to keep the district’s campus, and similar Public-Institutional zones, separate from a decision on other parts of the city.

“Public-Institutional” refers to properties such as school sites, the city hall complex and the BCHD’s 11-acre hilltop land, which is subject to be redeveloped beginning next year.

On the table is a proposal by Sunrise Senior Living to build a 217-unit assisted living building once the existing 1960 former South Bay Hospital is torn down.

Whether or not Sunrise’s plan should be permitted is subject to city rules, namely Floor Area Ratio (FAR) – how large of a building is allowed to be built on what lots in the city.

As is, the Beach Cities Health District land has no set limits.

If limits are to be established, they would need to go before voters.

City Councilman Zein Obagi, Jr., made the motion July 14 to wait on any limits for Public-Institutional.

The motion passed 5-0.

“You’re not going to veto it, mayor?” Obagi asked.

“Uh, no,” said Mayor Jim Light. “I think we gave the people what they wanted.”

FAR means, for example, a limit of 1.0 would allow a developer to build a 1,000 square foot building on a 1,000 square foot lot.

A limit of 5.0 means 5,000 square feet would be permitted (multiple stories). A 1.0 FAR could also translate to a two-story building on half of the lot or a four-story building on a quarter of the lot.

The question of whether to set an FAR for Public-Institutional is now on pause, until the council decides to put it on a ballot, or not.

“(The decision) maintains the status of our current General Plan and Zoning Ordinance, which do not specify a limit, and leaves it to the discretion of the decision-making body (i.e. Planning Commission).”  Marc Wiener, community development director, told Easy Reader.

The matter first came up as part of the city’s General Plan update, a years-long effort to revise a document from 1992. The 27-member committee worked from 2017-24, making no recommendation to put a FAR limit on Public-Institutional zones.

This January, the city council directed staff to study potential impacts of a 1.25 FAR on the BCHD campus.

At the July 7 council meeting, former councilmember Todd Loewenstein spoke in public comment, calling for something smaller.

“A project at 1.25 FAR (on the BCHD campus) could be one of the largest in Redondo Beach’s history,” said the eight-year councilman, who termed-out in District Two last year.

Loewenstein  noted that a 1.25 limit could allow up to 240 units to be built on the campus; more than twice that of Eddy Redondo, an apartment and commercial project which opened last year on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Palos Verdes Blvd.

“1.25 could be bigger in square footage than the Sonesta Hotel (on the waterfront),” Loewenstein continued. “… Your constituents must have a say in what goes at a public site.”

He asked the council to consider a FAR of .75, in a separate ballot measure to come.

Tom Bakaly, Beach Cities Health District chief executive, told the council the same night that Sunrise would likely bow out of its proposed development deal if the FAR for the campus is (less than 1.25).

Public comment largely called for a lower FAR.

“Stay with .75. We don’t want increased density on public land,” said one caller.

Any adjustment to city zoning deemed a “major change” has to be approved by voters. This is defined as a change which could add 150 more vehicle trips per day in mornings and peak hours.

Bakaly said BCHD supported Obagi’s motion.

“Spot zoning, it’s wrong, it’s illegal,” said Mark Nelson, leader of STOPBCHD, a neighborhood group which opposes what it deems as overdevelopment plans for the campus.

After the city council’s January request for staff to study a 1.25 FAR for the BCHD land, city staff concluded it would have no significant environmental impacts.

The BCHD campus’ current buildings add up to FAR of .77.

Last September, the Planning Commission advised the council to set a FAR of .5 for all Public-Institutional land, except for city hall, police headquarters and the police annex, which would have a FAR of 1.25.

“BCHD has advocated that any FAR for Public-Institutional use throughout the city should be uniformly applied, as it is today,” Bakaly told Easy Reader.

He noted that more details on the Sunrise plan should arrive this fall.

“BCHD’s decision to proceed with Sunrise Senior Living for the campus redevelopment is separate from the broader discussion about the city’s General Plan,” he said. “It is important to keep these issues distinct because General Plan land-use and any density decisions should not be based on any single project.”

With or without a FAR for a given zone, the Planning Commission is who approves or denies city building projects.

Their rulings may be appealed to the city council. ER