| City
Council wrap (9/10)
By Jennifer Evans
of the Beach Reporter
Del Aire
development
Before the El
Segundo City Council voted against supporting a development that would
construct 450 apartment units in Del Aire, several Del Aire residents
voiced their opinion about not wanting a new development in their city.
The Los Angeles
Economic Development Corporation requested that the El Segundo City
Council send a letter to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and
Planning Commission supporting the proposed project.
Development was
approved for the five-acre parcel of land within the Business Park in
1988. However, it was not approved for apartments but instead for office
space, a development that Del Aire residents said they could live with.
"I think by
putting in the apartment buildings, it would cause such havoc over there.
It won't do anything for the community," Diane Dominick, an El
Segundo resident and former Del Aire resident said.
However, Dan Ehrler
of the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce spoke to the City Council in favor
of the apartment complex. "The chamber believes the development of
the apartments could economically be beneficial to the city of El Segundo.
The office space would bring hundreds of more people and cars creating
more traffic," he said.
Del Aire homeowner
Ardis Dahl said she didn't understand why it was El Segundo's decision in
the first place. "The idea of building 450 apartments is
ludicrous," she said. "El Segundo needs to keep its nose out of
it."
Despite a letter
addressed from Mayor Pro-Tem John Gaines stating El Segundo's support of
the apartment complex, the City Council agreed it was not in its best
interest to support the project. Gaines stated that he didn't know why his
name was on the letter and that nobody had asked him before attaching his
name to it.
Councilman Jim
Boulgarides agreed with the Del Aire residents stating that he doesn't
think it's El Segundo's decision either. "Let them fight this, we
don't have a dog in this fight," he said.
Relieved at the
response of the City Council, Del Aire residents applauded after the
Council unanimously voted not to support the request of the LAEDC.
|