Lawndale to Explore Replacing Apartments With Condominiums

The Lawndale Planning Commission next month will consider a proposed set of standards designed to encourage the building of condominiums to replace the city’s aging apartment stock.

City Councilman Larry Rudolph, who last week submitted the proposal covering all multifamily residential zones, said the standards are intended to reduce the number of older, oversized apartments in the city and increase the number of new condominiums.

“It’s going to bring Lawndale from the ‘50s to the ‘90s,” he said.

City Planner Kendra Morries said Friday that she has not read the 15-page plan but has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal before the Planning Commission on Nov. 8.

Rudolph said the proposal would eliminate the required minimum lot size of 10,000 square feet for condominiums and give builders the option of putting condominiums on lots where the only alternative had been apartments or single-family dwellings, Rudolph said.

There is no minimum lot size for apartments.

Rudolph said builders and landowners in the city would prefer to build condominiums rather than apartments.

The plan drew some fire from two frequent Rudolph foes on the council. Mayor Sarann Kruse said Rudolph should have told colleagues before submitting the plan, and Councilwoman Carol Norman said the standards would make affordable housing less available and transform Lawndale into “Redondo Beach East.”

When the plan comes before the Planning Commission, that body will have the option of rejecting the proposal, rewriting it or accepting it as proposed, said Chairwoman Pam Sturgeon.

Rudolph said one of the benefits of the plan is that it would promote more open space and increase off-street parking, because city code requires condominiums to have more parking, open space and amenities than apartments have.

Apartments in the R2 (two-family) residential zones have no open space requirements. Apartments in the R3 (medium-density) and R4 (high-density) zones require 120 square feet of open space for each unit, city officials said. Open space includes balconies, patios, courtyards and pools.

In contrast, condominiums in any zone are required to have 200 square feet of open space for each unit.

Apartments in any zone are required to have two parking spaces for each unit and one guest space for every five units. Condominiums must also provide two parking spaces for each unit but are required to have two guest spaces for every five units.

The proposed standards would also permit two separately owned condominiums to be built on one lot in R2 zones, which encompass 504 acres or 40% of the city’s land.

Kruse, who had not finished reading the proposal late Friday, criticized Rudolph for “ramrodding it through.”

She said she supports more parking and open space in the residential zones but would have preferred that Rudolph had consulted with the rest of the council before submitting the proposal.

“He should have done it just out of courtesy,” she said, adding that the proposed changes “may be the best thing for the city, but I don’t know. I have to read it.”

Rudolph, who said he worked on the proposal with former Planning Commission Chairman Gary McDonald and Commissioner Bruce McKee, said he did not feel obligated to notify each council member.

However, he said he is sorry the mayor did not have a chance to study the proposal before a local newspaper reported about it.

Norman blasted the proposal, saying it requires more study before going to the Planning Commission and suggested that, because of its potential for changing the face of the city, it ought to be put to the voters.

Norman, who had also read just part of the proposal, said she believes that it would drive reasonably priced housing out of the city.

Rudolph defended the proposed standards, saying they are intended to spur renewal of the city’s dilapidated apartments. Rudolph said he has worked on the proposal for eight months and hopes to see the standards in place by January.

“I didn’t just pull this thing out of the sky,” he said.

Councilman Dan McKenzie said he supports the proposal because it will encourage more residents to buy homes rather than rent. He said homeowners stay in the city longer than renters and provide more stability for the community.

“It’s the only way to go,” he said.