Most members of the public in attendance at last night’s Redondo Beach Planning Commission meeting walked in expecting to witness a death sentence.
Instead, many considered themselves blindsided by a stay of execution offered to the Legado Redondo project. Rather than an expected up-down vote on the mixed-use plan, the seven-member panel acquiesced to a request from the developer for time to redesign the project.
Legado Redondo, until recently, was a proposed 149-residential unit mixed-use development, with 37,000 square feet of commercial space. At the site of the former Bristol Farms grocery store on the Southeast corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Palos Verdes Boulevard, the currently-closed Palos Verdes Inn also faces a significant remodel.
The commission moved the Legado item to the top of the agenda soon after meeting’s beginning. Chairman Nicholas Biro immediately moved to continue Legado discussion to October 15, with a near-immediate second and unanimous yes vote from the commission.
Confusion, and subsequent anger, radiated from members of the public, causing City Attorney Michael Webb to come out bring order and forcing Biro to ask for police presence in the chambers. “Bait and switch, that’s what this feels like,” said Torrance resident Bruce Szeles.
Szeles was one of many in attendance, including Commissioner Tom Gaian, unaware of the chairman’s initial intention to continue the meeting to a later date.
They would have a fair complaint, as well, were it not for the fact that the commission’s agenda included a staff recommendation for continuance, and a letter from Legado requesting it. The agenda, as required by California public meeting laws, was posted well in advance of the meeting.
“I think we’re all surprised, and feel a little torpedoed,” said Mary Trainor, who told the commission that she didn’t think it was their fault. “All of us feel left out of it — that’s what’s wrong.”
Gaian challenged that immediately. “I don’t understand how you people, the ones who are against this…come here and tell us you feel left out,” he said. “You’ve been heard 120 percent, because nothing is happening, exactly what you want.
“You’ve been heard, your voice has been heard, and it’s shown, so I want to say that I’m personally offended when someone says ‘Your voice hasn’t been heard. We’ve been in this together, week after week after week, and the only thing we’re asking is we need a few more weeks.”
Resident Jeff Abrams said that he felt the commission was doing a good job, discussing the issue rather than “blindly slamming the door and letting it go.”
His concern, however, was that Legado’s request for a continuance was a delay tactic, with the aim of causing protestors to “get tired of coming to these meetings,” he mused.
Edward Czuker, Legado’s owner, said that this wasn’t an attempt at stalling, but an effort to find something the community would be happy with. “We’re approaching this with an open heart and open mind; anything is on the table,” he said — including the current “eco-modern,” concrete, glass and wood-based design.
In his remarks to the commission, Czuker also addressed the currently-shuttered PV Inn, saying that Legado is willing to spend “an excess of $10 million in rehabilitation” on the aging hotel, which he said generates more than a million dollars in Transit Occupancy Tax for the city.
However, he cautioned that “if we can’t come up with something viable for the entire site, we won’t have the ability to spend that money for the hotel, for the benefit of the city, community, neighbors and all involved.”
Czuker reiterated that he and his company, despite prior missteps he attributed to staff turnover and bad consultants, will work with members of the community, going so far as to offer his phone number and email address to the audience.
“What I’m going to ask is that folks that want to be heard reach out to you,” Biro said to Czuker. “It’s not going to be you trying to chase people down, it will be people chasing you down. We want to meet with a project to look at.”
Following a request by Legado to delay the meeting by one more month after realizing that a continuation to October 15 wouldn’t grant enough time, the commission voted to continue the meeting until November 19.
“If you ask for an extension [on November 19], we might all need guards,” Gaian said.
