In the ongoing land use debate over the remake of the South Bay Galleria, one issue stands out. No surprise, it’s traffic. In the public’s first look at a draft Environmental Impact Review, among myriad impacts, the most significant issue facing nation-wide developer Forest City that likely won’t be mitigated is traffic.
While the 651-page draft EIR, released by the city of Redondo Beach in conjunction with multiple consultants on Friday(July 28), analyzed numerous impacts on everything from air quality, water usage, the school district and native birds, it found largely those effects could be controlled.
The report identifies, “significant and unavoidable” impacts will occur at three intersections: Hawthorne Boulevard and Artesia, Prairie Avenue and Artesia Boulevard and the I-405 Northbound Ramps and Artesia Boulevard during peak hours.
“That’s something the city will have to look at and decide if we are okay impacting those intersections to get this project off the ground,” said Geoff Maleman, spokesman for Forest City.
8,000 new daily car trips
The large-scale makeover planned for the Galleria, which has not changed significantly since 1989, would add an apartment complex between 300 and 650 units, a 150-room hotel, an outdoor promenade, a dozen new restaurants and more than 200,000 square feet of new retail space to the 30-acre site.
All told, such changes would contribute more than 8,000 new daily car trips to an already congested area near the border of Redondo Beach with Lawndale, according to the report released Friday. If the developer chooses a smaller 300-unit apartment complex, that number would be reduced to around 6,000 trips, based on the report.
Source: The Beach Reporter
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