Honda Could Shift Auto Receiving to Port of L.A.

American Honda is negotiating to move its auto-receiving operation from the Port of Long Beach to the Port of Los Angeles, company and harbor officials said Wednesday.

Although no formal agreement has been signed, the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners on Wednesday took the first step toward establishing the major auto-receiving facility at the Port of Los Angeles. By a 4-1 vote, the board approved a permit to revamp Berths 87 and 90, which are now used for container storage.

The move came over protests from San Pedro residents and business representatives, who said an auto terminal in the area could cause major traffic problems. Also protesting were several members of a merchant marine veterans group, who had hoped to anchor a floating museum at Berth 87.

The permit approved Wednesday will allow the Harbor Department to remove fences, scales and a prefabricated building and to install new fencing at the site. Any actual lease agreement would still have to come before the commission for a vote. Ann D’Amato, Harbor area deputy for City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, said the lease would also have to be approved by the City Council Commerce and Natural Energy Committee.

Harbor officials and representatives of American Honda Motor Co. Inc. said they have been negotiating a 10-year lease to use the site near the Los Angeles Maritime Museum for receiving automobiles.

“We have a preliminary agreement on the lease between Honda and the Port of Los Angeles, with preliminary approval,” said Kurt Antonius, manager of corporate public relations for American Honda.

If a lease agreement is worked out, Honda would relocate all its receiving operations from the Port of Long Beach to the San Pedro site. Antonius said the Long Beach terminal receives about 70,000 cars a year.

Antonius said the autos would be taken off the ships, loaded onto trucks and taken directly to dealers. He said no processing, such as cleaning or repair, would take place at the terminal.

San Pedro residents and members of the San Pedro Peninsula Chamber of Commerce voiced objections.

“The proposed usage . . . for an auto-handling terminal would have a long-term impact on the neighboring community,” said G. Bud Hudson, president of the chamber. “We would request a public hearing be held with adequate advance notice . . . for public comment.”

The board fell short of calling for a hearing, but port officials sought to mollify residents by saying any specific lease agreement on the property would have to come before the panel again.

Chamber officials and residents said trucks carrying cars from a major terminal could drastically impede traffic on Harbor Boulevard and local freeways, hampering local business and tourism.

“If they take 70,000 cars a year, 6,000 a month, they are going to have trucks moving cars out of there every day,” said Noah Modisett, president of the San Pedro Peninsula Home Owners Coalition, after the hearing.

The board’s action appears to have all but dashed the hopes of the U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans World War II, who have campaigned since last year to anchor a floating museum at Berth 87, near the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. Members of the Long Beach-based national group defiantly tugged the mothballed merchant vessel Lane Victory into the port last summer--against the wishes of port officials--with the intention of creating a monument to comrades killed at sea.

The veterans have waged a tenacious campaign, but have been repeatedly told the site is needed for commercial uses.

“Well, we still want 87,” said Joseph B. Vernick, president of the Long Beach group, before the meeting. “But it’s looking harder from here.”

Virtually everybody at Wednesday’s meeting, including Flores’ deputy, D’Amato, complained that they were not aware of the Honda proposal until Tuesday afternoon.

Even Commissioner Robert G. Rados, who cast the lone negative vote Wednesday, said he had not heard of the proposal until just before the meeting.

“I was disturbed. I would like to see some details before I give my vote. I was not even aware of anything about it before this morning,” Rados said after the meeting.