RPV Limits Housing Tract Plan

The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council will limit to 43 houses a subdivision being planned by Watt Palos Verdes along Palos Verdes Drive South.

The council also set guidelines for the development, which has gone through numerous revisions since it was first proposed two years ago for land overlooking the old Marineland site. The guidelines restrict the size of the houses, limit removal of fill to 250,000 cubic yards, and require the 64-acre subdivision to have privately maintained streets.

The developer had originally asked to build as many as 64 houses. The Planning Commission recently cut that number to 58.

Larry Schmidt, a spokesman for Watt Palos Verdes, said the company will evaluate the guidelines and see if the project is still economically viable.

The council made its decision at a public hearing Tuesday, which will be continued May 2. The city must approve or disapprove a final proposal on that day--two years after the project was first proposed--or by state law it is automatically approved.

At Tuesday’s session, the council accepted the project’s environmental impact report but denied Watt’s appeal of Planning Commission conditions for the development.

Watt representatives are expected to meet with city staff during the next 10 days to formulate the final development proposal.

Neighbors have opposed the development, fearing landslides, but city geologists have found the property stable.