Hawthorne : Temporary Street Closure

A compromise that would scale down a proposed commercial development near the affluent Holly Glen neighborhood threatened to unravel this week because of a disagreement on a street closing.

The City Council voted on Monday to put up a 90-day traffic barrier at Glasgow Place and 142nd Way in the Holly Glen area. The experiment, which will block one access route to Holly Glen, was approved after a lengthy public hearing on the proposed permanent closure of a nearby street that also provides access to the neighborhood, which is just north of Rosecrans Avenue and west of the San Diego Freeway.

The street closure was requested by Blakesley-Comstock Development Co., which owns property on the north side of Rosecrans west of the freeway. Blakesley-Comstock, which has plans to build two three-story office buildings valued at $24 million on the site, originally wanted to build a 12-story complex but scaled it down after Holly Glen residents complained that it would block sunlight and intrude on their privacy. In return, the developers wanted parts of two streets blocked off so parts of the complex could be built there.

Holly Glen residents voiced concern that elimination of one of the few access routes to the area would seriously inconvenience them. They also expressed doubt that traffic in the area would be reduced by the closure, as claimed in a study commissioned by the developer.

Holly Glen, adjacent to the major routes to the aerospace industry in El Segundo, suffers from commuter traffic intruding onto residential streets.

A spokesman for the development firm said the building will have to go up an additional story if the street closures are not approved. Under existing zoning on the developer’s property and Hawthorne building regulations, the developers may build a four-story structure without City Council approval.

City staff will evaluate the closure’s impact on traffic, and the public hearing will resume on April 14.