BCHD PROJECT UPDATE  -   9/12/26

 

 

BCHD is quickly advancing a massive private senior-living development with Sunrise on public land at its elevated site that is surrounded by hundreds of homes on all sides and overlooking Torrance homes and Towers Elementary School to the east. 

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Despite BCHD’s continual claims that the new concept “addresses residents’ concerns", the project does not address health and environmental damages, ignores neighborhood compatibility, and places a permanent burden directly onto surrounding families and schoolchildren.

 

WHAT THEY PROPOSE

 

• Constructing a 254,000 sq. ft, 5-story, 60 ft. high structure on the elevated site with insufficient setbacks, close to hundreds of homes and Towers Elementary

• Demolishing the hospital building 514 (the1960s hospital with known hazardous toxins and contaminants) and maintenance buildings. FEIR deferred the survey of toxins and detailed analyses and had little to no due considerations of the impacts of the unique topology of the site and surrounding homes.

• New mix of 217 independent-living, assisted-living and memory-care units, with inherent increased traffic.

• Entering into a 99-year ground lease with Sunrise, surrendering public land to a private development to be signed if and after Sunrise obtains City of Redondo Beach entitlements and a Conditional Use Permit (CUP).

• Preparing an Addendum to its 2021 EIR for a materially different project with significant, unstudied impacts, and using a CEQA "loophole" that avoids a public review and comment cycle. The developer, site plan and location, size, operating mix, and order of construction and demolition have all changed.

• BCHD now says Sunrise expects to submit a CUP application in Dec. 2026, as they continue to develop details out of the public view.

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A century-long commitment of public land demands current and additional environmental studies, protections, major reduction of harms, and full public scrutiny and  — prior to ANY approval including additional EIR documents.

 

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

 

The massive project severely impacts surrounding single-family home neighborhoods of the Pacific South Bay and Beryl Heights on three sides, and residences with two Elementary schools nearby. Responsible agencies and residents cite that the "self-certified" EIR did not adequately respond to environmental concerns and impacts on residents in nine CEQA categories, including: Noise and Vibration, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Air Quality, Geology and Soils, Aesthetics and others. BCHD using an Addendum simply ignores previous and new impacts.

 

2021 EIR’s Health Risk Assessment identified Torrance residents east of the campus the MOST IMPACTED by demolition and construction hazards. Towers Elementary is approximately 350 feet east and directly downwind of the campus. Homes are immediately downslope and downwind - Nearby Torrance homes sit approximately 30–90 feet below the elevated campus. Some homes are 80 feet from the site construction activity.

 

Height and privacy - Sunrise’s public concept showed buildings reaching approximately five stories and 60 feet, with insufficient setbacks. (The existing hospital is primarily four stories and 51.5 feet tall, with its major wings more than 100 feet set back from property lines.)

 

Damaging construction noise - The certified EIR found that prolonged construction noise at nearby homes that surround the site and those remaining onsite would be exposed to damaging noise that would remain significant and unavoidable, even after mitigation, due to the extreme height and close proximity of the proposed structure.

 

Demolition and hazardous dust - Demolishing a 1960s hospital would disturb asbestos, lead, PCBs and other hazardous materials. Detailed analysis of the hospital demo was deferred in the EIR until detailed site plans were developed. Site-specific surveys, real-time monitoring, public reporting and enforceable controls are essential.

 

Traffic and hauling - Hospital demolition and years of construction could bring heavy trucks, equipment, workers and delivery traffic through neighborhood streets and school routes. The new project has a MAJORITY of Independent Living units with increased traffic. Updated traffic and truck-routing studies have not been released.​

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