by Elka Worner
The Hermosa Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to reject a zoning change that would have allowed up to 66 new units on the St. Cross properties and agreed to allocate some of those units to the Mitsubishi site on Pacific Coast Highway.
“This is a win,” said Realtor and Hermosa Beach resident Karynne Thim, who along with Realtor Robb Stroyke looked for alternate sites for the city’s Housing Element. “This is a reasonable solution that will assure consistency with the overall scale and height of the neighborhood.”
To comply with state law, the city must identify locations for 558 new residential units with potential for development. Of those, 232 must be for very low-income residents, and 127 for low-income.
The church had development capacity for very low and low-income units to help the city meet its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) numbers, but the parcels needed to be rezoned to high density residential, or R-3. Neighbors voiced opposition, saying the zoning change would increase traffic, create parking problems, and lead to more density in their residential neighborhood.
The “Preserve Our Neighborhood” group collected 2,500 signatures on a petition opposing the St. Cross upzoning and lobbied the council for more time to find alternate sites. At a July 11 council meeting, Community Development Director Carrie Tai said, “City staff has scoured every site, looked through thousands of properties” and was past “statutory and extended deadlines” to submit its Housing Element for state certification. Still, the council gave Realtors and residents several weeks to find alternate sites.
Councilmember Dean Francois said he and Councilmember Rob Saemann met with community members weeks ago and “incentivized” Realtors and neighbors “to go to work and find other properties.”
“And sure enough that’s what happened,” Francois said. “I’m proud we’ve come to this tonight. As of a day or two ago, I wasn’t sure how this was going to go.”
The council agreed to a new zoning designation, R-2 (c) for the 15-church owned properties, which would allow for 22 to 25 dwelling units per acre.
The northerly portion of the Mitsubishi site at 190th and Pacific Coast Highway was accepted for 18 low income units which allowed for lower allocation and zoning for the St. Cross site.
Councilmember Saemann said including the Mitsubishi site was a “reasonable compromise,” which “spreads the low income” throughout the southeast section of the city and north Hermosa, where the St. Cross site is located. He said the compromise also satisfies the church’s plans for the site.
“They can still improve their property. They can still provide low-income housing to the neighborhood, but that will stay under 30 feet.”
When asked if St. Cross would agree to the modification, St. Cross Senior Warden Jack Tedford told the council, “St. Cross would continue to support the Housing Element with the changes that have been proposed.”
Tedford added that he hadn’t had a chance to talk with Community Development Director Tai about the proposed changes. “I do wonder whether or not – that’s pretty tight between the minimum and maximum (22 to 25 dwelling units per acre) – there would be a corresponding increase to maximum income units.”
Additional sites submitted by Realtors and residents did not meet the city’s low-income housing criteria. The council accepted 1706 and 1734 Pacific Coast Highway for moderate and above moderate units, but rejected 200 Pier Avenue because it could have eliminated ground floor retail.
Before their vote, Hermosa Beach resident Todd Mackey told the council that “shoehorning high density buildings in the St. Cross neighborhood is unsafe.”
“If you pass the housing elements as is, including the St. Cross property, your legacy for this city that we all love, will be to have significantly, irrevocably and eternally damaged the high quality live-ability and appropriate development of this city. It’s on you,” he said.
Once revisions to the Housing Element are made, it will be submitted to the state for approval. ER
