About a year ago, last December, John Reed learned that, because the family next door had received permits to renovate their home, he’d be losing his driveway. The driveway led to the backyard, and wasn’t connected to a garage.
But the driveway and its apron were important to Reed’s family. His daughter Kelly has been wheelchair-bound for the past 22 years, having suffered a traumatic brain injury at 19 years old. Kelly is non-verbal, and needs assistance getting in and out of the family’s van. With the curb cut, the Reeds could pull the vehicle up, park the car, and take her and her wheelchair immediately near their house.
Two months ago, Reed came before the Redondo Beach City Council to ask for his driveway back. Last night, the Council learned that Redondo Beach city ordinances, as well as state vehicle code, bar them from recreating the driveway, as it existed. But a majority of the Council agreed to a half-measure, “an incremental step,” as Mayor Bill Brand said, that ensures the Reed family easier access to their home for their daughter’s sake — even if it’s not exactly what they wanted.
“For 22 years, this has met our needs. And now everyone is quick to say they’re sorry; they’ve ignored my pleas — we have a wheelchair! — but they took it out anyway,” Reed said shortly before the council made their decision.
To Councilman Nils Nehrenheim, this was a case where the staff was taking a position and refusing to help residents, reminding him of his activist days, which lay in the very recent history.
“One thing I’ve learned in dealing with this City, I fight really hard for the residents and when they get ignored, bad things happen,” Nehrenheim said.
Minutes earlier, Nehrenheim shouted over City Attorney Michael Webb, frustrating Webb to the point of leaving the chambers to calm down. Soon after, the two apologized to one another — but as soon as Nehrenheim suggested staff was ignoring residents, Webb readied his own microphone for a response.
“I think the dichotomy that you’re fighting for the public, and that staff isn’t, is a false one, especially in this case,” Webb said. “They really want to, within the code…but there are complexities upon complexities.”
Webb argued that city staff cannot break the city’s laws to benefit one family, and that if the Council wants its codes changed, the body would have to do so themselves. But changing those codes may come with hosts of unintended consequences, he said, which is why staff included a list of suggestions that may resolve the problem without rebuilding the driveway.
A majority of the City Council settled on a motion made by Nehrenheim, which would create two handicap-protected “blue curb” spaces along the Reed family’s block of 500 South Francisca Avenue. The City would also pave over a road verge between the sidewalk and the curb, allowing the Reeds to park in front of their house and bring their daughter out by the curb.
Staff will also review Redondo Beach’s development ordinances affecting driveways for potential future changes.
“If this doesn’t work, in May we’ll go to a more comprehensive change to make it appropriate. This is hopefully better than what you have now,” Brand said to Reed, with a look of apology on his face. “It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.”
LA County to pay for deaf-inclusive alert system
Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors representatives announced the County will pay to install an beach evacuation alert system, designed to be inclusive of the hard-of-hearing, within Redondo Beach.
The Beach Emergency Evacuation Light System, or BEELS, includes a series of high-intensity warning lights that strobe to alert the hard of hearing, while loudspeakers will alert hearing beachgoers.
The system will be piloted at Torrance Beach this year. Should it pass muster and expand, the County will pay for its installation on County property in Redondo, as well as on the Redondo Pier, city-owned property.
