Not making it
Dear ER:
My take away from Keith Robinson’s political cartoon (“Making it,” August 6, 2015) is that if you own a gun, you are an A-hole. Did Keith Robinson really call 32 percent of South Bay residents A-holes?
Additionally, what does the National Rifle Association have to do with Bill Cosby? Would Keith Robinson please explain this unfair association?I believe that Mr. Robinson owes an apology to South Bay gun owners as well as the NRA.
Steven Oetzell
Redondo Beach
The Trader Joe example
Dear ER:
Paragon development has requested a requested a variance to reduce required parking by 30 percent for its proposed Gelson’s Supermarket and Republic Bank at 8th Street and Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach. This will increase congestion and decrease safety on Sepulveda. Large trucks making morning deliveries will make the area dangerous for my children driving southbound to Mira Costa each morning. The developer’s traffic study confirms that it will take two lanes for trucks to enter and leave the small parking lot. During rush hour Sepulveda is already a challenge southbound from, which are prime grocery shopping hours.
An example of the traffic to be faced at 8th and Sepulveda is the entrance to Trader Joe’s on Manhattan Beach Blvd. TJ’s parking lot is too small. Cars block the westbound lane waiting to enter. During rush hour, danger increases as motorist not wanting to enter TJ’s dart into the second lane, causing more traffic issues for westbound motorists while backing up traffic to Aviation Boulevard. The same will happen at 8th and Sepulveda, an already dangerous intersection.
Whatever develops at 8th and Sepulveda will increase congestion. I hope the developer will follow in the footsteps of the developers of Target, Skechers Building, El Pollo Loco, Crimson Hotel, Ralph’s, Village Mall and La Marina Preschool and install deceleration lanes. The developer’s children will someday take the route my children do to Mira Costa. I am confident they want their children and ours, to experience a safe commute to school and residents a safe commute home.
Barry Fisher
Manhattan Beach
Maximize tax dollars
Dear ER:
There have been a lot of comments about the revenues to Manhattan Beach a Gelson’s at 8th Street and Sepulveda Boulevard would generate. It is important for all residents to understand the economics of grocery stores, which our group, Manhattan Beach Neighbors, has learned through our due diligence of this proposal.
- Only between 25 percent to 30 percent of the revenues generated by a grocery store are taxable. Most food items are tax exempt. The City should weigh the benefits to the community versus the economic impact from the proliferation of businesses, such as Gelson’s, where the City does not derive the maximum potential tax revenues generated by the business. Businesses that occupy commercial spaces should provide the maximum tax revenue benefit possible per square foot.
- Grocery stores are undergoing a fundamental business change. Today 25 percent of groceries are now purchased online and this trend is expected to grow rapidly. We should think hard about supporting a low tax income generating business in a town that already supports numerous other large and small grocery stores, which will be negatively impacted by this trend.
- Retail grocery store analysts we spoke with stated that, on average, people shop at grocery stores that are within 1.5 miles of their residence. Gelson’s would not attract new revenues but simply cannibalize revenues from existing Manhattan Beach grocery stores. For those who hope that store would steal Whole Foods shoppers, the fact is that Whole Foods shoppers, in general, are not Gelson’s shoppers – different demographic and focus (i.e., organic and private label goods). Thus, the revenues generated by a grocery store within our four square mile city would not represent new revenues to the City.
Disrupting traffic and destroying the character of a neighborhood is not worth the marginal business opportunity Gelson’s presents to the City.
Chelsea Zielin
Manhattan Beach
Recondo redux
Dear ER:
Comparing Riviera Village to 1800 PCH, 2001 Artesia, the Legado development plan and the Sea Breeze development plan is pure apples to oranges (“Report shows Redondo Beach’s growth has slowed, ER August 6, 2015)..
Riviera Village is a shopping/restaurant/business district with residential around it. The others are high density condo projects, literally on top of the bare minimum of commercial development.
High density, mixed use zoning in Redondo does not work. Recent articles show that 1800 PCH has suffered from a 45 percent vacancy rate in its commercial space. 2001 Artesia houses businesses that would not be big revenue generators for the city.
Residential does not pay out for the city. Redondo’s density is almost four times that of El Segundo. Yet El Segundo generates three times the revenue per capita as Redondo. Why? El Segundo balances residential, retail/restaurant, professional and industrial uses. We are predominantly residential. Residential is not a great city revenue producer.
The argument that Redondo has not grown is laughable. Other than Hermosa we are the most densely populated beach city in the South Bay. 1800 PCH replaced a Ford dealership with 98 condos and underperforming commercial. We converted a whole street of industrial uses, Ruxtan Lane, to over 200 high density condos. We allowed 2001 Artesia with its 54 senior units. Right now 10 condos are being built at Sapphire and Broadway, where a church used to reside.
Single families are converted to condos regularly. While resident action has stopped some of the biggest developments, these substantive in-fill development, density increases have ramped up since the recession. And more is coming. The Galleria wants to add housing to the mall to make up for the revenues lost with the departure of Nordstroms. The “condo” in Recondo Beach is alive and well and growing.
The cries about the pier and harbor are laughable. For years the city put leaseholders on short term leases to prepare for what is now the CenterCal Mall. Is there any wonder folks were reluctant to invest?
The whole gist of what is supposed to be a discussion on traffic turned into a political soapbox to advocate for the CenterCal mall and more condos. Anyone who commutes up Pacific Coast Highway or Aviation knows traffic has increased. You can try to put up a smokescreen, but the nearly 90 percent of Redondo workers who commute to work outside the city every weekday know better.
Jim Light
Website comment
Stellar swimmer
Dear ER:
What a tragedy (“Lifeguards rescue on of their own at Surf Fest, “ER August 6, 2015). Ed Nelson was almost to the finish line. I was just a couple minutes behind him. He personificates the very spirit of the Dwight Crum Pier to Pier Swim. Conditioning, family, spirit, an ocean waterman and dedicated to watching out for other swimmers. I didn’t know Nelson him personally, but I’m very hurt by the loss of this stellar comrade. He was just a few years older than me. This reminds me of how fragile life is, even if we are well conditioned, physically, mentally and spiritually. It’s so important to love those around us and that spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood, becomes so strong in a loss like this.
William Brown
Website comment
One of our own
Dear ER:
I remember Ed Nelson from Adams Jr High when I was a student there in 1971 (“Lifeguards rescue one of their own,” ER August 6, 2015). He was the nicest man ever. I remembering him always riding his bike to school and seeing him at the beach. Time stood still for a moment after reading this story as I reflected on the good times as we had kids with people like Mr. Nelson who made a difference in a lot of kids lives.
Sunnie Er-Taylor
Website comment
Wait to school
Dear ER:
Greg Breen’s recent 491 word letter (“Pier into the Past”, ER Letters July 30, 2015) is filled with outright lies, misinformation and personal speculations made to sound as facts. I will answer it in detail in September when more people are back from vacation. The subject and facts surrounding the use of the Community Center (the former Pier Avenue School) by the Hermosa Beach City School District are very important and Greg Breen’s lies and misinformation about it are an extreme disservice to our community.
Miyo Prassas
Hermosa Beach
