Preservation Commissioner Quits After Controversial Vote

A Redondo Beach preservation commissioner resigned last week, one day after siding with a couple whose neighbors tried to block the remodeling of their vintage home. She would not comment on her reason for quitting.

Molly Sipe, who has been on the commission since its creation about two years ago, quit Thursday after the commission voted 5 to 2 Wednesday to create the city’s first historic district. Although the designation would help preserve one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods on North Gertruda Avenue, it also effectively put the commission in the middle of a bitter feud among residents on the street.

At odds are Jackie and Herman Bose, who for more than a year have been trying to remodel their turn-of-the-century bungalow, and a group of preservationists in the area who say the Boses’ plans would erode the historic character of the neighborhood. Complicating the matter is a racist note the Boses received last month--they are the only black couple on the street.

The preservationists sought to stop the remodeling by having the street declared a historic district, which would require the Preservation Commission to approve any exterior change to a house within its boundaries. Over the objections of the Boses, the commission voted Wednesday to approve the district. Sipe and Commissioner Robert Duenas voted against the designation.