The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 104, No. 31 - July 30, 2015 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................12 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................4 Food.......................................5 Legals....................... 12,13,14 Letters...................................3 Police.....................................2 Real Estate.....................7-11 Sports....................................6 Weekend Forecast Special Olympians are Given a Warm El Segundo Welcome Smiles all around!: The Macedonia and Barbados teams are joined by El Segundo volunteers. A dinner honoring the Macedonia and Barbados team was hosted by Boy Scout coordinator Gavin Lueck and his troop. Lueck is working towards his Eagle Scout project. See article, under “Sports” page 6, and more photos on page 16. Photo by Gregg McMullin. As Look of Downtown Changes, So May Downtown Specific Plan By Brian Simon After more than a decade on hold, the longawaited rehabilitation of the 100 through 300 blocks of Richmond Street is finally set to kick off in March. But even when the project wraps up, it won’t mean that Downtown El Segundo will now finally be “done.” In fact, formation of an El Segundo Planning Commission subcommittee to study and recommend revisions to the now 15-year-old Downtown Specific Plan is already underway. Established in August 2000, the Downtown Specific Plan (DSP) was a multi-year visioning process that included the extensive input of a task force comprised of community and business members. The purpose was to revitalize Downtown and improve the district’s physical appearance while still maintaining a walking village and pedestrian-friendly character. The DSP featured development and design standards that remain in place today, but changes in the makeup of the Downtown business mix, parking considerations and other factors spurred recent discussions about the need to revamp various components of the plan. Among the elements highlighted were whether to ease or eliminate restrictions on tinted glass--originally put in place to provide transparency between the street and store interiors as a way of keeping Downtown’s pedestrian-friendly environment intact. The impacts of glare on businesses facing the sun as well as energy conservation considerations prompted the Planning Commission to support relaxing or even removing the restrictions. The group was not in favor of doing the same for reflective glass on windows, however. When the idea came up informally before the City Council, Mayor Suzanne Fuentes expressed concerns about the adverse effects of reflective glass on businesses across the street. Councilmember Dave Atkinson thought it would pose a driving hazard. The Planning Commission was also in favor of allowing additional though limited signage to help non-street fronting businesses (such as professional service tenants that rent upstairs offices in two-story buildings) that currently have minimal options to let passersby know they are there. Possible changes could allow more sign types and larger sizes while still considering scale and character of buildings. The DSP currently requires that the front portion of a building exceeding 30 feet in height must be set back 25 feet from the property line. The Council added this provision in 2006 to address concerns about building height and mass (especially along Main Street) and the potential “canyonization effect” of three-story buildings. While the intent was to maintain lower building heights, the language only applies to front property lines and does not clarify if the same setback requirement also covers side street properties. The Planning Commission was generally against establishing additional setbacks for buildings exceeding 30 feet in height along street-facing side property lines given most lots in Downtown are small and narrow. Councilmember Marie Fellhauer said she is “not in favor of telling people what they can or cannot build on their property” and was thus against imposing setbacks on side streets such as Holly or Pine. Councilmember Mike Dugan agreed, calling for more flexibility and less restrictions. City staff and the Planning Commission had contrasting thoughts about how to resolve the issue of parking mandates for the El Segundo Museum of Art (ESMoA). Given the building size, the DSP requires nine spaces provided--but ESMoA has no parking onsite. To remedy the situation, the museum arranged for use of nine spots in the adjacent Chevron lots during nights and weekends that the venue is open to the public. However, the arrangement doesn’t meet the DSP requirement for the nine spaces to be available at all times—and use of the offsite spots also necessitates a parking covenant (that is not currently in place.) Because the museum is not open during weekdays except by special appointment and does not compete for other nearby uses for parking, staff suggested possible DSP amendments to reduce the number of spaces required for non-profit museums and/or allow offsite parking at the Chevron lot for up to 12 annual events without a parking covenant. Arguing that ESMoA provides a public benefit while operating only limited hours, staff also recommended the option of waiving some or all of the facility parking in-lieu fees. Conversely, the Planning Commission did not agree on waiving or discounting parking in-lieu fees or eliminating parking See Downtown Changes, page 12 Friday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 79˚/67˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 78˚/67˚ Sunday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 79˚/68˚
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