Torrance : Condo Study Ordered

The City Council called for an impact study for a proposed 10-story condominium complex at 5500 Torrance Blvd. that would displace scores of low-income elderly people and radically change the appearance of the neighborhood.

The study was ordered Tuesday after the council expressed concern that the project will have a significant effect on neighborhood density, and traffic along Torrance Boulevard, and that allowing such a large residential complex could set an undesireable precedent for the city. The council’s decision overturns an environmental review board ruling that the environmental problems posed by the complex were not significant enough to require a full study.

If the complex were approved, it would force the mostly elderly and low-income residents of a 43-space trailer park that occupies the site to relocate.