Unanimous Vote Against Mixed-Use Development in South Redondo Sparks Controversy

The Redondo Beach Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday night to deny a Conditional Use Permit for a mixed-use development at the corner of Palos Verdes Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, setting in motion a variety of actions that could still bring the developer’s building plans to fruition.

With time and options running out and miscommunication thrown into the mix, Legado Companies has a few options: They have 10 days to appeal the decision which would put the development before City Council for a vote; They can take legal action, and they can submit a reapplication for the ambitious development that garnered flack and support from the community, according to the Easy Reader.

What the Planning Commission voted down Thursday was not what Legado intended for them to vote on. However, due to time or miscommunication, depending on which side you support, the commission was left to vote on Legado’s original development, and not the scaled-back version the developer proposed after public input in August.

In August, the planning commission directed Legado to return within 90 days with a scaled back plan for its initial development of nearly 200 apartments and 37,600 square feet of commercial space on the 4-acre site that once housed a Bristol Farms grocery store, according to the Beach Reporter.

Thursday night, Legado’s scaled-back version of 146 residential units and 23,764 square feet of commercial space wasn’t presented to the planning commission due to missing the submission deadline. Thus, the commission was left to vote on the original plan or grant a continuance of the hearing.

“The plans we got were received on Nov. 5 at 5 p.m.,” said Redondo Beach Community Development Director Aaron Jones. “That gave us only four working days to look at plans we’ve never seen…that is not sufficient to do that work.”

Jones also said Jones the plans staff received were incomplete, minus the necessary elevations of proposed parking decks as well as “any number of 10 other things it would take in order to have the project before this commission.”

Neighbors of the project have been concerned about density, traffic, and safety. They maintain that the development is too large for the area.

Legado first pitched the development in 2012. They would demolish all of the retail space at 1700 S. Pacific Coast Highway (a small strip center consisting of an art gallery, massage studio and other shops) and renovate the 110-room Palos Verdes Inn.

“We followed the commission’s lead in requesting us to go back…to further tear down the project and work with the community, we listened to the commission and followed their requests,” said Legado CEO Edward Czuker. “We felt we had done exactly what we were asked to do.

“This is fresh…at this time, we want to take stock of where we are and what happened, and evaluate our actions.”