Redevelopment Moving Forward In This Los Angeles South Bay Beach City
Specifically, the City Council voted 3-1 to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report and other approvals related to The Waterfront.
Next up before any shovels can be brought in to start work, the Waterfront will be reviewed by the California Coastal Commission.
The plan calls for a total redevelopment of the Redondo Beach Pier area, from the King Harbor parking lot south to Torrance Blvd. Its centerpiece is a two-story glass building along the lines of the Ferry Building in San Francisco. It will host a Trader Joe’s type of market on the ground level and proposals for the upper level include a craft beer bar with views out over the Pacific Ocean.
And it is this building that created the biggest opposition from residents, who feel it’s going to be too tall and block their view of the water. That remains to be seen, of course.
Proposed development after proposed development has been turned down by residents in seeming countless votes over the decades, and finally it looks as if something will be done to fix this aged and bland area, a prime waterfront location and potential tourist destination about 15 miles south of LAX.
Not even the staunchest opponents can argue that something needs to be done to the pier. It is literally crumbling (as evidence, look at the parking structure by Kincaid’s) and even the legendary Old Tony’s is about to fall into the ocean because the wood pilings on which it sits are about to collapse.
The City Council’s approval is another step forward in the long process which, if everything is approved, would have the first phase open by 2020.
It was apparent that the City and the Current Mayor, steam rolled this lease agreement through the city. Not listening to concerns of the people, residents, or neighbors of the project. The mayor clearly gave the notion that CenterCal was the selected suitor and that they want this to move forward. However, they understand all the important issues now are in the hands of the Coastal Commission.
There are major issues regarding the height and size of the proposed layout and structures. The current proposition is for 2 story sturctures that are 50 to 80 feet in height. I spoke to a Redondo Beach fireman and they stated that typical structures are 10 feet high per story. There is no reason that this structure should be higher than 25 feet high. There are views from neighbors, residences, local parks, and sidewalks that are supposed to be protected view corridors that have not been addressed and completely bullied into the entitlement process.
Also, the architecture choice is not of California beach culture. In the opinon of many it should be Spanish or Craftsman style, typical to the history of California and the surrounding beach cities.
The seals. There are currently over a dozen seals that live in the area year round. The proposal calls for the opening of the Sea Side Lagoon. This is a National Treasure. It currently has water filtration and safety issues. These need to be addressed with the new project. However, opening the lagoon to the wild is not a good idea. In La Jolla where this occured the seals took over the beach and breed in the Spring time. It is a beautiful site to see the breeding animals giving birth on the sand and in the water from the beach. However, when they are breeding the seals are very protected and create beach use right arguments between humans and seals. As seen in La Jolla. This needs to be a beach for kids like it is now. Protected from swells and clean water. If that means more money to spend on a proper water treatment facility than so be it. They are projecting a multi-million dollar development. They need to cure the issues not create more.
There are obvious issues regarding the cleanliness of the water. There are also parking garages that are in great disrepair that must be fixed. Although these items cost extra money, they are not worth trading in heights over 25ft and blocking exisiting view corridors.
They want to attract millioins of people to Redondo Beach. This has to be done with public transportation and not car travel as there is simply not enough parking.
Furthermore, if there is a disaster or emergency on the pier when the pier is crowded with millions of people and the streets around the pier are flooded with traffic, how are fire, ambulence, and police going to access the pier? The city will need a hover craft ambulence service to support the added traffic.
The Mayon has said this development will not effect the city and the need for more city workers. They will need more city police officers and security officers to run a tight ship.
Also, they will need to find a way to combat the homeless issues that will arrise as the homeless are dropped off here by the bus system of Los Angeles County.
It is in my opinion that the lagoon stay a lagoon and not be opened to the sea water. This water is already heavily polluted. The lagoon should have treated healthy safe water for babies and little children to enjoy the water’s edge. As I did when I was little.
The lagoon area, should be doubled in square footage terms, not shrunk.
The footprint of the proposed development should be at leased trimmed by a third if not a half.
There really is no reason to have a street down the middle of the retail mall. This is a walking area for people and should be more like a beach park. Not a mall. The current ingress and egress of the property is packed bumper to bumper during the summer time peak days that are hot days and weekend days. The traffic can not move an inch for hours as a result of overcrowding. Putting a drive down the middle of this proposed development is simply illogical.
Furthermore, as far a view corridors are concerned you can see from across the street and at the park all the activity in the little harbor area. When the proposed development is finished you can only see the harbor water from being next to it. All views will be completely blocked. In fact the proposed buildings are so tall they are as high if not higher than the current palm trees that line the harbor area. This is a gross misrepresentation of the people and the coast. Please stop this mall of a project. Too much, too big, too close to the water.