Manhattan Beach : Housing for Elderly

Two weeks after turning aside a request for a senior housing project on Laurel Avenue, the City Council has established a nine-member committee to study the need for housing for the elderly.

The committee, proposed by Councilman Bob Holmes, was unanimously approved by the council, but only after Mayor Gil Archuletta and Councilwoman Jan Dennis unsuccessfully attempted to widen the scope of the panel and to remove Holmes as its council-designated chairman.

Archuletta and Dennis said the committee should consider other problems confronting the elderly, but other council members said the committee would be unable to concentrate on housing problems if given other issues to consider.

Dennis led the unsuccessful effort to remove Holmes as the designated chairman of the group, arguing that the committee should be led by someone not on the council.

The committee will include representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, the Senior Housing Foundation, the school board, the city staff and local financial, religious and development communities as well as a member at large.