Gardena : Apartment Plan Denied

Citing density problems, the City Council upheld the Planning Commission’s denial of nine additional units for an apartment complex.

The developer, Pete McCarroll, had requested the units under a state law that allows developers to build above density limits if at least half the apartment units are reserved for the elderly. Cities are required to grant such a variance or provide developers with an equivalent financial incentive.

McCarroll was seeking to build a 26-unit apartment complex on the parking lot of a former bank at Gardena Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue. He said he needed to build 26 apartments to offset costs of converting the bank building into office space.

Merchants along Gardena Boulevard, once the major business district of the city, had asked for approval of the project as the first step toward revitalization of the area. The bank building has been vacant for about five years.

But the council, with Mayor Don Dear dissenting, said that the area is already overdeveloped and that granting the additional units could set a precedent. City Manager Kenneth Landau said the city would waive parking requirements for the bank building as the equivalent of a financial incentive.

McCarroll told the council he could not develop either project unless he could build more than the permitted 17 apartment units.