San Pedro : Ports o’ Call Project OKd

The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners on Wednesday approved plans for a small retail and office development at the site of the former Skytower at the Ports o’ Call seaside shopping village.

The proposed development includes five or six retail shops, two offices and an open court for live entertainment. The commissioners voted unanimously to issue a coastal permit for the development, providing it is “noncompetitive” with other businesses at Ports o’ Call.

Iden Zaima, a spokesman for Specialty Restaurants, which operates the village under a longterm lease with the port, said the development will not compete with other shops. Ports o’ Call merchants, who at one time opposed removal of the Skytower, did not speak at Wednesday’s public hearing.

The board last year allowed Speciality to remove the 365-foot high Skytower--which once offered panoramic views of the harbor but had been closed for three years--provided the company replaced it with a development that would enhance business in the village.