BCHD land development

I commend Paul Silva for calling out the deeper layers of economic privilege and gain through multiple generations (“Generational wealth and racism in Manhattan Beach,” The Beach Reporter, 8/6/20). It is akin to what we are dealing with now in Redondo Beach where the Beach Cities Health District has become a real estate investor in the “prime property” at 514 N. Prospect Ave.

No minority person, unless a celebrity, could afford the minimum $12,000/month to live on the so-called Healthy Living Campus, for which no needs assessment was undertaken.

According to local social service agencies, Redondo Beach has 50 assisted living facilities, all of which are drawing from the city’s network of emergency first responders who, we are told, give priority to assisted living residents. Redondo Beach is being robbed blind on this cost without any financial gain for the demands on its infrastructure.

Another lose-lose goes to Torrance residents who would be overshadowed on the east side of this six-story proposed complex. They could experience two hours less of sunshine each day and their neighborhood becoming a thoroughfare for traffic emptying onto Flagler Lane—the only point of exit. These neighborhoods, represented on Facebook as TRAO (Torrance Redondo Against Overdevelopment), have seen their properties devalued by $20,000 to $30,000 as realtors reveal the impending three years of construction.

The district’s predecessor, the South Bay Hospital District, was formed by a vote of the people and funded with bonds and property taxes to buy, build and maintain the campus. When the hospital failed, BCHD kept the assets and rebranded itself without another vote. Lawful or not, that was a clear act of privilege coupled with arrogance that continues today.

—Mary R. Ewell, Redondo Beach