Developers Rush to File Plans to Beat San Pedro Deadline

Developers--hurrying to beat a July 1 deadline for a proposed ordinance curbing multifamily construction in San Pedro--have inundated city officials with plans for dozens of projects, sparking fears in the community that the new law will not slow growth but simply accelerate it.

The rush of applications, most of which involve replacing single-family homes with apartments, has also raised fears that by the time the ordinance takes effect, the complexion of the community will already be so changed that blocks that are now predominantly single-family will be mostly populated by apartments.

‘People Are Upset’

Such changes could have a significant effect on the future development of San Pedro, because the proposed interim control ordinance calls for blocks that are mostly single-family to remain that way, but allows apartment development to continue on blocks where multifamily dwellings make up more than half the housing stock.

“People are very upset,” said slow-growth activist Shanaz Ardehali-Kordich. “They can still go ahead and tear down houses. They can still go ahead and do whatever they were doing.”

At a public hearing Monday night, more than 30 people expressed support for controlling growth in San Pedro, while three spoke against the ordinance. Some residents, furious that developers are razing single-family homes to make way for apartments, went so far as to call for an outright ban on building.

“I have yet to hear a developer say anything about maintaining the essence of family life in San Pedro,” said Art Almeida, who is among those who called for a moratorium on building. “I haven’t heard one say anything about saving the integrity of a neighborhood . . . . It’s time to stop development.”

But an aide to Los Angeles Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who is backing the ordinance, said that only four people at Monday’s hearing requested a moratorium, although he acknowledged that an additional 10 of the 32 who spoke in favor of controlling growth asked for a tougher ordinance.

Flores deputy Mario Juravich also said a rush of building permit applications is inevitable when controls are proposed.

“That’s something that you can’t prevent,” Juravich said. “It did indirectly spur development, sure. It’s like a sale. Everybody’s going to rush over there and buy before the sale is out. But once the deadline is gone, you’re not going to be able to get it.”

The proposed ordinance, which still must be approved by the Los Angeles Planning Commission and City Council, is intended to preserve San Pedro’s single-family neighborhoods while a citizens group and city planning officials examine permanent ways to slow growth in the community.

As it is currently drafted, the ordinance exempts developers whose plans were submitted to the city Building and Safety Department by July 1 and who begin construction by Nov. 1, 1990. In the case of projects that require subdivisions, construction must begin by July 1, 1991.

Besieged With Proposals

Thus, building and planning officials say they were besieged with project proposals in June. Several developers interviewed said that in an effort to beat the July 1 deadline, they pushed ahead with projects that might otherwise have remained dormant for as long as four or five years.

“All the developers knew about this proposed downzoning,” said Pete Ortiz, head of the plan check division for the Building and Safety office in San Pedro. “You’d hear them for weeks talking about what’s going to happen, what are they going to do, and then as they got more information . . . they all started rushing in with their plans.”

Ortiz said that prior to May, when the ordinance was proposed, his office received applications for between three and five apartment complexes each week. Although he could not provide an exact count, he said that during most of June, applications were coming in at the rate of 15 to 20 a week.

And during the week before the July 1 deadline took effect, Ortiz said his office received 28 applications from developers wanting to build apartments or condominiums.

One developer said city offices were so swamped that an employee spent nearly eight hours in line waiting to file an application to subdivide a property.

Another developer, Gordon Inman, owner of Landmark Realty in San Pedro, said the interim control ordinance prompted him to press forward with plans to build 11 projects. He said most, if not all, are “tear downs,” in which single-family homes will be demolished and replaced with small condominium complexes of three to five units.

Inman said his original plan was to develop the properties at a rate of about two a year, but the proposed ordinance altered that schedule.

Hired an Architect

“The minute even the rumors (of interim controls) started to go around, we hired an architect to put plans in on all 11 sites,” he said. “My plan was kind of a five-year plan. They made it a one-year plan.”

Yet Inman said he supports the interim control ordinance, which he thinks will promote quality building in San Pedro. “I’m kind of wearing two hats,” he said. “I’m glad to see it slow down, but I’m glad to see all my properties get in.”

In addition to the onslaught of building plans filed, city officials also reported being besieged with requests for demolition permits.

Ortiz said he did not have an exact number but estimated that as many as 100 demolition permits had been requested in the weeks preceding the July 1 deadline.

Property owners apparently believed they could clear the way for future apartment development, within the context of the interim control ordinance, by demolishing single-family homes and thus changing the character of a block from single-family to apartments.

But Juravich said Flores has put an end to that notion by closing a loophole in the ordinance. A newly inserted provision states that when a lot is vacant, it will be counted according to its prior use.

“We’re trying to say that if they’re going out there and rushing to get demolition permits, they are not going to change the balance of the block,” Juravich said. “We were concerned as the news came to us from the Building and Safety Department of the number of demolition permits being issued.”

Advisory Committee

The proposed ordinance comes at a time when apartment building is the hottest issue in San Pedro. Residents have complained repeatedly that a building boom is threatening the single-family character of their community.

As a result of the furor, Flores earlier this year appointed a 25-member advisory committee to examine the zoning laws that govern development in the community and recommend possible changes.

In May, the committee called for an interim control ordinance to act as a stopgap measure while it continued its review. Its proposal, which was toughened by Flores, has two main targets: developers who string together lots to build big apartment complexes, and apartment building in the RD1.5 zone.

That zone permits developers to build one apartment for every 1,500 square feet of lot space--or three units on the standard 5,000-square-foot lot. Some single-family neighborhoods in San Pedro are zoned RD1.5 and have taken on a patchwork appearance as developers raze houses to build apartments.

Juravich said it is possible that the final draft of the ordinance will include provisions that strengthen it further. He said his office already is studying a request that duplexes be counted as single-family homes when determining the makeup of a block.

He said he expects the ordinance, which is scheduled to come before the Planning Commission Aug. 24, to considered by the City Council sometime in September.

Times staff writer Louis Aguilar contributed to this story.

CURBING APARTMENT CONSTRUCTION The proposed ordinance curbing multifamily construction in San Pedro includes the following provisions:

* On lots smaller than 6,000 square feet in an RD1.5 zone, apartments may be built only when they already make up more than 50% of the housing stock on a given block. When more than 50% of the housing stock is single-family, no further apartments will be built on the block.

* On lots 6,000 square feet or larger, apartment developers may build only one unit for every 2,000 square feet.

* No single building may contain more than four apartment units, although more than one building may be permitted on a lot if the lot is large enough.

* When two or more lots zoned differently are tied together into one lot, the more restrictive zoning will apply.

* Alleys may not be included in the size of a lot. Currently, city zoning law permits one-half the width of an alley to be calculated in lot size.