Controversial PCH Development Project Rejected In Redondo Beach: Report

REDONDO BEACH, CA — The Redondo Beach Planning Commission earlier this month denied a proposal to build a four-story condominium complex on Pacific Coast Highway, The Daily Breeze reported.

The commission cited restrictions on public access to the coast, as well as a lack of parking and safety plans as reasons for denying the proposed project at 401-417 Pacific Coast Highway during its meeting on Thursday, Dec. 19, the newspaper reported.

Commissioner Gale Hazeltine said that while additional housing needs to be built in the city, including near the beach, “a building of this size would put a strain on already limited parking in the neighborhood,” The Daily Breeze reported.

“The city can’t absolve itself of its responsibility to preserve access to the beach,” Hazeltine said, according to the newspaper. “The Coastal Commission says you have to be able to get to the beach and the pier.”

Redondo Seaside Living, LLC applied for a permit to build the complex, a 49-unit mixed-use building, as a density bonus law project, according to the developer’s proposal.

California’s density bonus law requires local municipalities to allow developers a density increase of up to 50% or more, should they provide a minimum percentage of affordable housing or senior units.

Redondo Seaside Living’s PCH project would include 49 units, five of which would be “affordable to very low income and three of which are affordable to moderate-income households,” and 17,000 square feet of commercial retail space on the ground floor, the developer’s designs say.

Now that the commission has denied the project, the developer can appeal it to the city council for reconsideration, The Daily Breeze reported.

Read the full report at The Daily Breeze.