Hawthorne Press Tribune The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - October 8, 2015 South Bay Cities Support Teachers with ‘Fuel Your School’ Campaign Chevron’s “Fuel Your School” campaign is continuing throughout the South Bay cities. Teachers can post their classroom needs on DonorsChoose.org and Chevron will donate to help fund them. For more information, visit fuelyourschool.com. Photo courtesy of Chevron. A Day in the Life of a City Planning Director By Nancy Peters Life is all about plans. Plans for dinner; plans for the weekend; vacation plans; plans after work---just about any time of your life there are plans being set up for your participation. In the case of planning for a city to continue to be viable and in the “black,” plans must be in place to assure that taxes can be collected from sales, and business license fees can be relied upon to add to the city treasury. A planning director with vision and who knows what is needed is essential to the development in a city such as Hawthorne. Gregg McClain is the Planning Director in the city of Hawthorne who returned to the city in 2008. When Gregg was first employed as a Planning Assistant from 1997 to 2000 he worked for Michael Goodson who was the Planning Director at that time. When McClain left Hawthorne he moved on to a city far enough away from the South Bay to not be familiar any longer with the activities in the city that formerly employed him. He had learned much while in Hawthorne, but while in Monterey Park Gregg learned how other cities made plans to expand their footprint in the area. “The Municipal Codes dictate how a city can move forward, or not,” McClain explains. “Codes can be restrictive as to what is allowed to be built and developed by a city, whether it is in the downtown area or developments of housing or in a commercial zone. “Hawthorne is more than 90 years old and some of the codes have not been rewritten for many years. In order for a city to grow and develop, a city must adapt to the times. In years gone by, it may have been acceptable for restaurants to not serve alcohol, for instance, except in a bar setting. But, patrons expect that they can get a glass of wine with dinner or a beer with their pizza. So, sometimes codes need to be amended. “A lot a planner’s job is reviewing the municipal codes that are in place and researching what other cities are doing about bringing their codes up to date. A great deal of my day is spent rewriting code. That is one aspect of my job that I really enjoy,” he said. Many municipal codes were written to accommodate a certain type of vendor in a city or a specific type of housing development. But codes should be written so that they apply to all, not just to a few. In his tenure this time around, McClain has amended about 50 Municipal Codes on the books. With a list that is constantly in development itself, Gregg spends many days reviewing the current code. Then, his staff may be delegated to do research from codes in other cities across the state. When a similar code is found in a city of similar size and demographics, and makes sense for Hawthorne, the Planning Director will spend time rewriting the specific wording of a code so that it is clearer for interpretation and more applicable to the direction Hawthorne might be taking. “I am interrupted on a daily basis for my interpretation of our code. Those interruptions are welcome. I can talk about code interpretation all day long,” Gregg chuckled as he explained. “Basically, as the Planning Director, I am expected to interpret how a vendor or developer can bring the business to Hawthorne that will be a good fit for our citizens and visitors. “I work with the Planning Commission to present what people bring to our office and while the ultimate decision makers for the city are the City Council members, it is the Planning Department and Planning Commission that initially decide what the City Council should be given to review and vote to approve. “In my years since returning to Hawthorne, the largest project thus far has been the Hawthorne Downtown Specific Plan. I found a grant in 2012 that allowed the city to effectively be able to afford exploring how to improve the downtown district on Hawthorne Boulevard. Now, the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which is a requirement, must be accomplished and that is also an expensive proposition. With that funding now available, we are nearing completion on that phase. “My days can also involve meetings with property owners, realtors, builders and developers, with questions about where they are allowed to do what they want to do. And, so it continues, look at the codes, find what can and cannot be done, and then rewrite, if necessary, the applicable codes,” McClain continued. Another specialty in which Planning Director McClain is involved is mapping and creating diagrams of various plots in the city of Hawthorne. As McClain described, mapping is the best part of his job. There are several projects that McClain is currently mapping and reviewing the current codes for zoning in those areas. Being a Planning Director, or as Gregg sometimes refers to his department, the Reacting Director, is not a cavalier job. “We have to be sure that every aspect of the plan has been reviewed. Did we review the zoning map? Did we review all the places in the Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................6 Classifieds............................2 Community Briefs...............2 Film Review..........................2 Food.......................................5 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................4, 6-7 Police Reports.....................3 Sports....................................4 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 88˚/72˚ Saturday Sunny 90˚/70˚ Sunday Sunny 84˚/70˚ A Day In The Life Of, page 8
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