Sunrise for seniors

5/6/21 Easy Reader

Sunrise Assisted Living in Manhattan Beach is proposing a two-story complex that’s about 100 apartment units on 1-acre of land. Compare that with the Beach Cities Health District’s proposed 103-foot tall, 6-story, about 200 apartment units on over 10 acres of publicly bought and paid for land. BCHD is building twice as many units on 10-times as much land, and is going up over 130-feet above surrounding homes to catch ocean views, cast long shadows on surrounding residential land uses and reduce the ability to safely use Towers Elementary’s fields for both school and public sports. Based on Sunrise’s plan, BCHD could build a 2-story, 200-unit complex on about 2-acres of our public land and have fewer significant health impacts on the 1,200-plus surrounding residents who opposed the project in a petition. As a three-year BCHD committee member, I was shocked when BCHD raised the size of the proposed facility from 60-feet to 103-feet in response to neighborhood concerns that the 60-foot complex was too big. BCHD is a publicly-owned agency. It either needs to respond to the surrounding neighborhoods, or perhaps it’s time to end BCHD, the same way the BCHD ended the failed South Bay Hospital District — with a stroke of our collective pens.

Mark Nelson

Redondo Beach

Public facility zoning at BCHD

4/1/21 Beach Reporter

Beach Cities Health District is proposing to build a new, ultra modern high-rise housing development that will be located on Redondo Beach land zoned for Public Community Facility (P-CF). Typically, sites that are zoned P-CF are used by local governments to build facilities for fire departments, police departments, hospitals, schools, parks/recreation and utility services. Such facilities provide clear value and benefit to the community: safety, education, energy, parks and medical services. These services are made available to all residents with the intention that all may benefit.

In contrast, the BCHD proposed development will be a for-profit upscale residence for seniors 65 and older who can afford its $12,000 per month rent. In addition, the facility will be 80% owned and operated by a private entity or investor group. The BCHD development proposal monetizes public land, not for use by the public, but for the sole benefit of a select few. This is an improper use of our public land and if allowed, will open the door for other P-CF zoned parcels to be monetized and privatized.

No other South Bay cities, including Hermosa and Manhattan, allow private residential facilities on their P-CF zoned parcels. Redondo Beach residents must reject BCHD’s plan to privatize our public land and we must ensure that any use of our public land has a clear benefit for all members of our community.

—Sheila Lamb, Redondo Beach

Beach Cities' proposed campus

3/15/21 Beach Reporter

RE: "BCHD's environmental review: mitigating impacts," The Beach Reporter, 3/18/21

Beach Cities Health District, a public health district, is selling something. Something big. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at splashy articles on their project dubbed the “Healthy Living Campus”.

It’s a $374M endeavor with a nearly $8M budget just for pre-development. What does that money buy? Artistic renderings — with a “hey, look over here” feel — that distract the public from seeing but a glimpse of the massive Assisted Living Facility that makes up the bulk of the HLC.

A Draft EIR produced by their consultants looks more like a sales document than a CEQA-required technical report to disclose environmental impacts.An Executive Summary seemingly designed to give a reassuring nod to officials and the public to go no further. But with any EIR, the devil is in the details.

The critical mass of the project’s Phase I is a 6-Story, 103-foot tall, Assisted Living Facility that stretches across two city blocks, atop a 30-foot hill. You must dig deep to find in the DEIR, that it would be the tallest structure in all the Beach Cities, save two apartment buildings built in the early 1970s. Phase II is not seen in any visualizations.

Look behind the curtain. This is blatant overdevelopment disguised in sheep’s clothing. It’s time for the residents of the Beach Cities and Torrance to learn more and take action. Participate in public meetings, share concerns with elected officials send DEIR comments before times up.

The more you know, the more there is to oppose.

—Ann Wolfson, Torrance