Redondo city council nears call on F.A.R. for BCHD campus

by Garth Meyer

F.A.R. was again front and center Tuesday night as the Redondo Beach city council took more testimony on Floor Area Ratio; what should be allowed for developable space at the 11-acre Beach Cities Health District campus, site of the former South Bay Hospital. 

The night concluded with a council vote for staff to evaluate an increase of the F.A.R. to 1.25, as staff  earlier suggested. 

A few dozen members of the public spoke at the meeting, including Planning Commission Chair Gail Hazeltine on why the group recommended to the council a .5 F.A.R for all Public Institutional zones in the city – a smaller number than the BCHD campus is currently built at.

In other public comment, a man called for term limits for BCHD boardmembers, and former city councilmember Christian Horvath returned to give his view.

State law requires the city set an F.A.R. for the land. 

A 1.0 F.A.R would permit a one-story building the size of the whole lot, a two-story building on half of the lot or a four-story building on a quarter of the lot. 

The planning commission sent the matter to the city council this summer, with a unanimous vote, to put all Public Institutional land at .5 F.A.R. (except for the city hall complex and the police annex).

Hazeltine laid out why Tuesday night.

She named a prominent building in each district in the city, citing its F.A.R: South Bay Adult School, .22; Birney Elementary School, .32; Jefferson Elementary, .24; Tulita Elementary, .20; Kensington assisted living, .64.

“46,000 square feet,” she said of the Kensington building at PCH and Knob Hill. “At .75, that could be 110,000 square feet and four floors. Would that fit with the neighborhood? When we (decided F.A.R.) it was based on, would these buildings conform to where the public institutional was located?”

“What’s most important is flexibility,” former councilman Horvath said, speaking in support of BCHD. “Public Institutional has had no cap. It’s been okay. You have guardrails. This body has guardrails through (conditional use permits).”

“BCHD talks about being targeted,” said Eugene Solomon, city budget and finance director. “It’s not up to the city to create policy that makes it easier for one entity to do business in the city… It’s to make the best public policy for the city.”

“This is about building density. That’s it,” said Rolf Strutzenberg, school board member and former planning commissioner.

“The commission’s eyes are on the future, looking to the past and what has happened,” said another man, referring to what he deemed overdevelopment.

Speakers in support of BCHD and a F.A.R. of 1.25  numbered as many as the detractors, with youth talking about allcove, others praising the Center for Health and Fitness and more programs and services the BCHD runs in Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan Beach.

BCHD leadership maintains that they need a higher F.A.R. to redevelop the campus and generate revenue to pay for its free services in the community.

One commenter spoke in support of BCHD and suggested an F.A.R of .77, so any new development is done at the size the land has been for decades.

Bob Pinzler, General Plan Advisory Committee member and former city councilman, gave his overview.

“In the last decade or so…(it has been established) that we value our small-town look and feel and want our council to preserve it,” he said. 

Beach Cities Health District CEO Tom Bakaly stepped to the podium and cited his 28 years in public service, including his time as city manager of Hermosa Beach.

“If our Healthy Living Campus is stressing you out, then that’s a problem for us,” he said.

He pointed out that “the use (of the land) is changing… assisted living (residents) are not driving cars.” 

“We do support staff recommendation of taking a look at it,” he said. “We don’t have an F.A.R. limit now. We have the campus we have with C.U.P. (Conditional Use Permits). We have a certified E.I.R. (Environmental Impact Report) above 1.0 for the Healthy Living Campus.”

Sheila Lamb of the planning commission later referred to what she heard in residents’ input while the commission studied the matter.

“A higher F.A.R. will increase density,” she said. “These incremental increases, lot by lot, may inevitably lead to a Redondo Beach that has lost the culture and character that you love.”

City Councilman Todd Loewenstein displayed illustrations of what Planning Commission Chair Hazeltine referred to, showing Parras Middle School at three stories instead of one, for example.

Councilman Scott Behrendt concluded the discussion with a motion to continue the public hearing Oct. 29 and direct staff to analyze a 1.25 F.A.R. cap for the BCHD campus, as part of the city’s General Plan Update. 

Councilmember Paige Kaluderovic gave it a second, with a comment.

“There will be future leaders here and we need to have confidence they will do whatever is right for them in that moment,” she said.

The hearing will resume on the 29th. ER