Council Offers 23 Acres in San Pedro for Military Housing : Economy: The action is part of an effort to persuade the Air Force to keep a base in El Segundo. Thousands of aerospace jobs could be at stake, but some contend the park land is too valuable for housing.

The Los Angeles City Council, moving to head off what could be a new round of job losses in the aerospace industry, has thrown its support behind a plan to keep an Air Force base in El Segundo.

In an 11-1 vote Tuesday, the council agreed to provide 23 acres at Angels Gate Park in San Pedro for military housing, enough land to build up to 250 homes for military personnel.

However, the decision to develop a formal agreement for the project does not assure that the land will be set aside for military housing. Nor does it guarantee that the Air Force, facing another round of Pentagon cuts, will keep its Space and Missiles System Center in El Segundo rather than relocate it to another state.

But the council’s action does represent a significant development in a recently unveiled plan to give the Air Force what it wants: enough land for the new housing. The plan was developed by the city and the Los Angeles Unified School District, which owns the acreage targeted for the housing.

“It’s a step forward,” Deputy Mayor Linda Griego said of the council’s decision to begin formal negotiations with the school district and Air Force. “It’s letting Washington know we understand the jobs issue.”

Under the proposal, which awaits action by the school board and several federal agencies, including the Interior Department, 23 acres of school district property would be deeded to the city. The city would then enter into a 50-year, $1-a-year lease with the Air Force to allow it to build the housing, which by some estimates will cost about $130,000 a home to construct.

In deeding the land to the city, the school district would relocate six portable classrooms now used for child care and a continuation school to city-owned land elsewhere at Angels Gate Park. Additionally, the plan calls for closing an athletic field on the school property but opening a new field on the city’s park property.

The proposal has drawn broad support among Southern California business leaders and many federal, state and local politicians. Proponents, who include some harbor area residents, have warned that without the housing, the local Air Force base is certain to close with drastic economic consequences for the region.

While a variety of economic impact studies have been cited, most supporters agree that the relocation of the base would mean not only the departure of several thousand Air Force personnel but also the loss of up to $3.5 billion a year in contracts to Southern California aerospace companies. And that, project supporters warn, could mean layoffs for anywhere from 16,500 to 54,700 aerospace workers, many of whom live in the South Bay.

Noting that the harbor area has already been hard hit by the loss of jobs in shipyards, canneries and other waterfront employers, Joe Marino of San Pedro told the council that local communities cannot afford to lose the Air Force base.

“If the Air Force were to depart, we would again see the loss of jobs of many residents,” he said.

“The bottom line,” added Bonnie Christensen, another longtime San Pedro resident, “is jobs and the economy.”

But just as passionately as some spoke in favor of the project Tuesday, other San Pedro residents insisted that their community should not be forced to accept more military housing, particularly when there was no assurance that the base will stay if the Angels Gate land is set aside for the Air Force.

“It’s the most ridiculous misnomer (to say) that the whole aerospace industry’s future depends on San Pedro,” said James Campeau, a general contractor from San Pedro.

For weeks now, opponents have noted that San Pedro already has more than 700 Navy housing units and 570 Air Force units--170 of which were built since the late 1980s when the Air Force last warned that it would leave the area. And allowing more Air Force housing, they have said, would not only bring more congestion to San Pedro but also would do so at the expense of hilltop property that should be preserved for parks.

“The proposed land swap between the city and (the school district) is a farce because it’s a net loss of public land,” said Carey Leviss, an industrial real estate agent who estimated that the Angels Gate property is worth more than $32 million based on current residential real estate values in the area.

“Please don’t cave in to scare tactics,” Leviss told the council, urging lawmakers to postpone any action until other housing sites had been exhausted.

But while Councilwoman Rita Walters voted to oppose the project on grounds that alternatives should be studied, the majority of city lawmakers agreed with harbor-area Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores that the project should move forward.

Flores told colleagues that she was not at first convinced that San Pedro should again accept more military housing. But her position changed, Flores said, when she looked at what other states were offering the Air Force base to relocate and how such a move could economically devastate Southern California.

“It still would have been my preference not to give this property up,” Flores said, “but under the circumstances . . . I respectfully request that we begin this process so we do not lose all the vital industries that I am convinced we would lose if this is not approved.”