About Town Redondo: 60th RUHS reunion, city sued
60th reunion approaches for RUHS class of 1963
The 60th reunion of the Redondo Union High School Class of 1963 is coming together for Sept. 30.
Organizers expect a turnout of 62 classmates at Blue Water Grill.
“We’re real happy, we were hoping to get 45,” said Kathy (Gonzalez) Cupery, a local resident co-organizer and former co-editor of High Tide, the student newspaper then printed on site at the school.
Another organizer is Sharon (McBride) Morgan, of Lake Forest, who grew up down the street from Cupery.
Bill Blethan, of Palos Verdes, is the former class president.
“The guy that’s in charge. We check with him on things. He gives the girls the work to do,” said Cupery. “But it’s okay, we don’t mind.”
Reunion attendees are expected to come from around the country, all now age 77-78, from the original graduating class of 491 students.
The last reunion, the 50th, was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, now Sonesta, which 90 people attended.
“We’re gung ho, we can’t wait for the (60th),” said Cupery.
Group sues city over housing project denial
A lawsuit filed by a group named YIMBY Law asserts that a City of Redondo Beach rejection of a proposed 2,700-unit housing and commercial development at the AES site was illegal.
The suit, filed Aug. 7, stems from an accusation that the city did not have a compliant housing plan filed with the state at the time the development application was turned in.
“Redondo Beach has ignored state law as well as their own municipal code by not treating their housing plan as a meaningful, effective part of the (city’s) general plan,” said Rafa Sonnenfeld, policy director at YIMBY Law, based in San Francisco.
The group argues that the Redondo Beach housing plan, although later approved by the state, has not been locally voted on, and in turn, is not in effect. Because of this, YIMBY Law says what is known as the “builder’s remedy” is applicable, allowing construction.
Without a compliant housing plan, California cities by law must approve qualifying projects which include a certain percentage of affordable housing.
The Redondo Beach plan was submitted before the AES development application last summer, and received approval a few weeks later.
The AES site is owned by a group of investors led by Leo Pustilnikov, who filed the application to build. ER