Torrance Orders Zoning Study

The Torrance City Council has voted 4 to 3 to study how adjoining neighborhoods would be affected by rezoning the former Columbia School site for residential housing.

The study by the Planning Department will consider the effects of rezoning the land for low- and medium-density residential uses, a senior housing project or a specific plan development. The study will go to the Planning Commission, which is likely to recommend a zone change to the council by August, city officials said. The council decides zoning issues.

The five-acre lot on 186th Street, which is owned by the school and zoned for public use, has been the subject of several hearings by various city agencies and the Torrance Unified School District. School officials have said they want to build apartments or other high-density residential developments on the site. City Council members have expressed concern about the density of the project and the possibility it might include subsidized housing.

Nearby residents have expressed a preference for low- or medium-density housing.

Councilmen Bill Applegate and Dan Walker voted against the study, saying the council does not need further study to decide how to rezone the land.

“I see this as a delay,” Applegate said. “We’ve been studying this thing to death.” Councilman Tim Mock also voted against the study.

School district officials could not be reached for comment.