The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 107, No. 34 - August 23, 2018
Inside
This Issue
Community Briefs...............2
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................10
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................6
Legals.............................. 9,10
Letters...................................2
Police Briefs........................3
Real Estate..................7-9,11
Sports....................................5
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
76˚/66˚
Saturday
Sunny
76˚/66˚
Sunday
Sunny
76˚/66˚
Library Summer Reading Party
Children who completed the El Segundo Public Library’s Summer Reading Program enjoyed snacks and refreshments as well as a performance by juggler extraordinaire David Cousin last week. This year’s
theme was “Reading Takes You Everywhere!”. Photo by Jessie LeMay.
Council Discusses Smoky Hollow
Plan, Social Host Ordinance
By Brian Simon
After years of study, outreach, analysis
and preparation, the updated Smoky Hollow
Specific Plan still needs a few more tweaks
before the El Segundo City Council is ready
to adopt it. Based on feedback Tuesday night,
a handful of items will go back to the drawing
board and return to the group in a month’s time.
Only three of the five Council members can
vote on the matter. Mayor Drew Boyles, who
was absent Tuesday, has a conflict because
he owns property in Smoky Hollow. Councilmember
Scot Nicol also had to recuse himself.
Smaller Council head count aside, the Smoky
Hollow plan requires approval from all three
members rather than a simple majority. While
otherwise lauding the rest of the document as
“fantastic,” Councilmember Don Brann was
not willing to give a final thumbs up due to
concerns about two components: a request to
increase the building height maximum from
35 to 50 feet (if a developer provides a community
benefit in exchange); and a proposal to
reduce the width of three lanes on El Segundo
Boulevard in order to create a parking lane that
would add 74 new spaces to the area. Brann
wanted further justification from staff on the
prospect of allowing buildings taller than three
stories in Smoky Hollow. He also expressed
concern about limited visibility on El Segundo
Boulevard when coming out onto the road from a
parking spot, with the worry that someone could
get broadsided. “It’s not a logical or safe way
to obtain additional spaces,” he said. Brann
suggested trying out the parking lane in just the
west section of the district to see how that works
before committing to the east side. Planning
Manager Gregg McClain, who made the
Smoky Hollow presentation on Tuesday, earlier
argued that the narrower lanes on El Segundo
Boulevard should slow down traffic.
Meanwhile, the plan also prohibits construction
of residential housing. As one consequence,
two properties – including one on Grand Avenue
owned by Ron Swanson, who addressed the
Council on the matter on Tuesday – got lumped
into the Smoky Hollow plan and lost their prior
R-3 (low-density, multiple-family housing)
zone status. Swanson argued that residential
complexes surround him (e.g. Grand Tropez
and live/work lofts) and that these properties
are meant to create a residential buffer on the
north side of Grand from Smoky Hollow. He
asked the Council to restore the R-3 overlay
(even if there are no imminent plans to build
housing at his site). Councilmember Chris
Pimentel agreed, further pointing out that it
sends a negative message to “large interests” if
the City of El Segundo is viewed as unwilling
to add housing – or worse, looking to subtract
it. McClain suggested that the Council address
this by directing staff to add a separate new
code amendment to reinstate the R-3.
For other elements of the plan, permitted uses
will still include industrial/studio. Restaurants
and assembly halls will require conditional use
permits. Future self-storage, pet daycare and
auto repair/body will no longer be allowed,
See City Council, page 4
LAX Offers El Segundo
Youth a Volunteer Program
By Rob McCarthy
Growing up next to Los Angeles International
Airport comes with certain advantages
for El Segundo kids. They learn early
about the planes, and some dream about
becoming pilots themselves. There’s a new
opportunity at LAX to get in on the ground
floor of other careers.
The nation’s second-busiest airport has
created a program open to El Segundo youth
called the LAXceeders Student Volunteer
Program. The year-round program places high
school and college undergraduates inside
LAX terminals where they staff the information
desks. The youngsters will direct guests
and work at events inside the airport, and get
an inside perspective of how LAX works.
One of the perks of becoming a volunteer
is meeting and greeting travelers from
around the world. This is also a chance to
build communication skills and complete
community service hours. Being a young
ambassador requires a minimum commitment
of two to three hours per week.
“At LAX, we are always looking for
new ways to introduce young people to
aviation-related career opportunities, and
this program does just that,” said Keith
Wilschetz, Deputy Executive Director for
Operations and Emergency Management.
What LAXceeders does is help local students
ages 16 to 24 to learn about the skills
they will need to succeed in the aviation
See El Segundo Youth, page 9