CC SR 20211221 D - Border Issues Update
RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 12/21/2021
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to review the current status of Border Issues.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Receive and file the second 2021 biannual report on the status of Border Issues
for 2021.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Megan Barnes, Senior Administrative Analyst
REVIEWED BY: Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A) November 2021 Daily Breeze article on West Harbor (page A-1)
B) October 2021 letter from the City of Palos Verdes Estates (page B-1)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This biannual report includes:
• An update on the proposed 248-unit Butcher Solana apartment project at
Hawthorne Boulevard and Via Valmonte in Torrance
• An update on the proposed leasing of the Defense Fuel Support Point San Pedro
for commercial fueling operations
• An update on the Ponte Vista development on a former Navy housing site on
Western Avenue in San Pedro
• An update on issues and events related to the Rancho LPG butane storage facility
in San Pedro
• An update on the San Pedro Waterfront Project (West Harbor)
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• An update on a proposed 11-unit mixed-use residential development at 24601
Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance
• An update on the Rancho Del Mar Affordable Housing Overlay Zone in Rolling Hills
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
This is the second biannual report to the City Council on various “Border Issues”
potentially affecting residents of Rancho Palos Verdes for 2021. The full current status
report and archived reports are available on the City’s website at:
http://www.rpvca.gov/781/Border-Issues-Status-Report
Please note that pursuant to City Council Policy No. 34, the next Border Issues Status
Report is expected to appear on a City Council agenda in June 2022.
Current Border Issues
Butcher Solana Residential Development Project (Torrance)
There has been no change in the status of the proposed Butcher Solana apartment
project at the southwest corner of Hawthorne Boulevard and Via Valmonte, which would
consist of 248 one- and two-bedroom apartments in three five-story buildings with 484
parking spaces in a six-story structure.
According to the City of Torrance, in mid-September 2019, the project developer notified
planning staff it was putting the project on hold while it reviewed more than 690 comment
letters on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which was released in
June 2019. Planning staff has indicated that as of June 2021, the project remains on hold.
Staff will continue to monitor this issue in future Border Issues Status Reports.
Additional information about the project is available on the City of Torrance’s website at
https://www.torranceca.gov/our-city/community-development/planning/butcher-solana.
Defense Fuel Support Point San Pedro (Los Angeles (San Pedro))
After issuing revised requests for proposals (RPFs) in early 2021, negotiations are
underway for separate leases for the Main Terminal of Defense Fuel Support Point San
Pedro (DFSP), the sprawling, inactive U.S. Navy fuel tank farm on North Gaffey Street
(which borders the City on a stretch of Western Avenue), and the 8-acre Marine Terminal
about five miles southeast in the Port of Long Beach . According to the Navy, the Marine
Terminal outlease is scheduled to be completed by mid -2022, and the Main Terminal
outlease signing is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022. No additional
information is available due to Department of Defense solicitation regulations. Once the
leases are signed, the Navy will be able to provide additional information.
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Staff will continue to monitor this issue in future Border Issues Status Reports.
Ponte Vista (formerly Highpark) Project (Los Angeles (San Pedro))
Home building continues at Ponte Vista, the 676-unit project on 61.4 acres of former Navy
along Western Avenue in San Pedro across from Green Hills Memorial Park, which will
consist of single-family homes, townhomes, and flats.
According to master developer Harridge Development Group, Subareas 4B and 6 in the
southeast and southern areas of the site, respectively, are now in the building permit
process. Designs and elevations of these homes were included in the June 2021 Border
Issues Status Report. Construction on entryways on Western Avenue is now complete.
According to the master developer, no p lans have been submitted for Subarea 4A in the
northeast corner of the site, the only remaining subarea to be developed. All other areas
of Ponte Vista are in various phases of construction or the building permit process.
Staff will continue to monitor this issue in future Border Issues Status Reports.
Rancho LPG Butane Storage Facility, Los Angeles (San Pedro)
There has been no change in the status of Rancho LPG, the facility on North Gaffey Street
in San Pedro, where 25 million gallons of butane are stored in two aboveground tanks,
and another five horizontal storage tanks each hold 60,000 gallons of propane. Rancho
LPG has long been the subject of concerns from residents of San Pedro, the Eastview
area of Rancho Palos Verdes and others about safety and the potential for a catastrophic
explosion. Plains All American Pipeline, which owns the facility, has defended its safety
record and procedures.
It is Staff’s understanding that Rep. Nanette Barragán of San Pedro may again look to
the federal budget process in 2022 for potential funding to address risk management and
safety for facilities such as Rancho LPG and refineries.
Staff will continue to monitor this issue in future Border Issues Status Reports.
San Pedro Waterfront Project (West Harbor) (Port of Los Angeles)
In October 2021, the Port of Los Angeles unveiled the newly completed $36 million town
square and promenade on San Pedro’s waterfront, which will connect to the future 42 -
acre West Harbor project on the site of the former Ports O’ Call Village. The Daily Breeze
reported in November 2021 that 65,000 square feet of the overall waterfront venue is now
leased and that with infrastructure in place, construction is set to begin on buildings in
early 2022 (Attachment A). West Harbor, which will include 375,000 square feet of
restaurants, retail, office, open space, and entertainment uses , is now expected to open
in the first half of 2023.
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The development includes a proposed 6,200-seat amphitheater on the southern tip of the
site, near the Southern Pacific Slip (see rendering below), which has drawn community
concerns regarding the size of the amphitheater and its potential impacts to surrounding
neighborhoods.
Image: Studio One Eleven
Although Port of Los Angeles staff previously indicated that plans for the amphitheater
were placed on hold due to the pandemic, in August 2021, Staff learned that the Port is
moving forward with an environmental assessment studying the proposed amphitheater.
According to Port staff, following a delay, a Notice of Preparation for the supplemental
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is now expected to be released within 90 days.
Staff will continue to monitor this issue in future Border Issues Status Reports.
Mixed-Use Residential Development at 24601 Hawthorne Boulevard (Torrance)
On October 6, 2021, the Torrance Planning Commission was scheduled to review a draft
Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) and consider approving a Conditional Use Permit,
Development Permit, and Precise Plan of Development for a proposed mixed-use
development on the northwest corner of Hawthorne Boulevard and Via Valmonte (across
from the Butcher-Solana project). Located at 24601 Hawthorne Boulevard, the proposed
project consists of an 11-unit, two-story multiple-family residential building over a semi-
subterranean parking garage, and a three-story office building.
The analysis found no substantial evidence that the project may have a significant effect
on the environment beyond the impacts previously identified and analyzed in the City’s
2009 General Plan Environmental Impact Report pertaining to long-term development in
the City. However, the project has drawn traffic, density, and neighborhood compatibility
concerns from nearby residents, including those in the Valmonte neighborhood. The City
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of Palos Verdes Estates, which borders the project site, sent a letter to the Torrance
Planning Commission noting a lack of specific design information available and
expressing concerns similar to those previously raised with the adjacent proposed
Butcher-Solana project, as well as concerns with the potential combined impacts of both
projects (Attachment B). The project developer, Ashai Design Consulting Corporation,
agreed to continue the Planning Commission hearing indefinitely in order to conduct
public outreach with concerned parties. In-person information sessions were held on
October 27 and November 4, 2021 (Staff was unable to attend).
It is Staff’s understanding that Ashai Design has taken the public feedback into
consideration, but that no new Planning Commission hearing date has been set at this
time. Ashai Design’s responses to comments on the draft MND are available in the
October 6, 2021 Planning Commission staff report, which can be viewed at the following
link:
https://www.torranceca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/69143/63768676139513000
0#page=47
Staff will continue to monitor this issue in future Border Issues Status Reports.
Rancho Del Mar Affordable Housing Overlay Zone (Rolling Hills)
On December 3, 2021, the City of Rolling Hills released its draft 6th Cycle Housing
Element, which includes the previously-approved Rancho Del Mar Affordable Housing
Overlay Zone to help the city meet its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA)
allocation of 45 units. The mixed-use, multi-family overlay zone on a 31-acre site owned
by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD) at 38 Crest Road West
allows the addition of up to 16 multi-family units by-right, including low- and very low-
income units, in an area west of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Transit Authority (PVPTA)
facility. It also allows for the continued use of public facilities, schools and transportation
facilities at the site. The City of Rancho Palos Verdes did not submit comments on the
overlay zone as the zone change in itself does not propose or authorize any new
development.
Rolling Hills expects to submit its draft Housing Element to the California Department of
Housing and Community Development (HCD) in January 2022. According to the
document, the overlay zone provides the City’s best opportunity to meet its requirements
for low- and very low-income units. The draft Housing Element notes that PVPUSD has
expressed interest in the past in building housing for teachers, and such units could meet
income criteria for low-or very low-income units.
The next steps for the overlay zone as outlined in the draft Housing Element include:
• Exploring the feasibility of subdividing the site to create a separate parcel west of
the PVPTA transit facility. This site could be more easily marketed as a
development opportunity.
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• Further discussions with the School Board regarding opportunities for teacher
housing and/or senior housing on the site.
• In collaboration with the School District, make information on the site available to
affordable housing developers.
• Further discussions with nonprofit developers regarding the opportunity to
construct housing on the site, including technical assistance to developers where
requested, including potential housing for faculty.
• Consideration of permit streamlining, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
clearance, and fee reductions for future affordable housing development on the
site. Multi-family housing is already permitted “by right” subject to objective design
standards adopted in February 2021, but further steps could be taken to reduce
future development costs.
Staff will continue to monitor this issue in future Border Issues Status Reports.
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IN CORPORATED 1939
340 PALOS VERDES DRIVE WEST PALOS VERDES ESTATES , CALIFORNIA 90274-1299
(3 1 0 ) 378 0383 FX: (3 10) 378·7820
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
October 4, 2021
Members of the Planning Commission
Honorable Members of the City Council
City of Torrance
3031 Torrance Boulevard
Torrance, CA 90505
RE: Consideration of CUP17-00013, DVP17-00002, PRE17-00007, DIV17-00008, ZON18-
00001 (EAS18-00002): ASHAI DESIGN CONSULTING CORPORATION (24601 HAWTHORNE
LLC) (“Project”)
Dear Commissioners and Honorable City Council Members,
On behalf of our residents and Councilmembers, under authority granted me by our Council on
issues around housing and density, I am writing with concern over the proposed Project. First, I
would like to personally thank you for your ongoing collaborative efforts to attempt to retain
local control of planning and zoning decisions. Despite the onslaught of state legislation, it is
critical that we work together to continue collaborative work on behalf of our mutual
constituents.
A lack of specific design information in the staff report makes it difficult for our residents to
further assess the Project’s potential impact to Palos Verdes Estates – particularly those that
reside in our Valmonte neighborhood that essentially borders the project. The Developer’s
apparent disregard for our residents’ use of Via Valmonte as a method of ingress and egress to
and from our City is unfortunate.
We would appreciate your continuance and/or delay of the hearing to provide additional time
for our residents to evaluate the Project’s potential impacts. Additionally, we recommend that
the Developer hold an information session on the project for our residents, which we would be
pleased to host.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 08957C53-CC2A-45E2-98B2-99DD42FC7E53
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Members of the Planning Commission
Honorable Members of the City Council
City of Torrance
Consideration of ASHAI DESIGN CONSULTING CORPORATION (24601 HAWTHORNE LLC) Project
October 4, 2021
While we recognize and support that zoning decisions related to Hillside Overlay, District,
Hawthorne Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan (HBCSP), Walteria Sub -district / Hillside Overlay
District are yours alone, we would appreciate your taking our interests, and potentially those of
surrounding cities into serious consideration. On August 19, 2019, an Ad Hoc of our City
Council, with the support of professional consultants delivered 25 pages of feedback on the
Draft EIR for the then-proposed Butcher Solana project
(https://www.pvestates.org/home/showpublisheddocument/12495/637018199003670000 ).
Numerous concerns in this document also apply to the proposed Ashai applications being
contemplated. The City of Palos Verdes Estates remains alarmed over the potential impacts to
our residents:
The entire Palos Verdes Peninsula is located within a CAL FIRE designated Very High Fire
Zone; please note item seven (7) in the aforementioned link;
The boundaries of the Cities of Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills Estates are in close
proximity to the Project site and are at risk for severe impacts for access in the event of
fire or other emergency.
The staff report appears to dismiss concerns around vehicular traffic impact; our
residents will be severely impacted through construction, regular use, and, God forbid
emergency access through increased density.
Should any form of the Butcher Solana project receive approval, in conjunction with this
project the negative environmental, traffic, and density impacts would be unbearable.
Thank you for your efforts to support and improve the lives of all that reside in Torrance and
the surrounding South Bay cities. We appreciate your time investment and consideration.
Sincerely,
Michael M. Kemps
Mayor
DocuSign Envelope ID: 08957C53-CC2A-45E2-98B2-99DD42FC7E53
10/4/2021
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