Redondo Beach Considers First Mixed-Use Development : Hearing: Plan includes condominiums and retail shops. Critics fear it will add too much housing and traffic to an area they say is already overbuilt.

Mixed-use developments, which have sprouted up in West Los Angeles and are beginning to appear in the South Bay, may soon make their entrance in Redondo Beach under a project being considered by the Planning Commission tonight.

The development combines 203 condominiums--including 40 affordable units for senior citizens--with a health club, restaurants and retail shops.

Opponents fear the project would bring too many residential units to an area they consider overbuilt. But planners are enthusiastic about the proposal because it would provide residents with opportunities to shop and work close to home while giving retailers a built-in customer base.

“Mixed-use is one of the latest trends in the planning field,” said Aaron Jones, an associate planner for Redondo Beach. “You do a lot to reduce traffic.”

The project, proposed by Bidamar Corp. of Glendale, would be the first mixed-use development in Redondo Beach. Bidamar is in the process of purchasing the 4.7-acre site at 1840 S. Pacific Coast Highway from Peyton Cramer Ford. The dealership plans to move, possibly to Torrance.

Bidamar has dubbed the project “The Campanile” for the Mediterranean-style bell tower that would serve as its central landmark. The design by the Santa Monica architectural firm of Johannes Van Tilburg includes colorful awnings, cobbled streets and wrought-iron balconies.

The development will contain 37,000-square-feet of retail shops, including a dry cleaner, a shoe repair shop, a bookstore and a flower shop. The 203 condominiums would range in size from 469-square-foot studios for senior citizens to 1,760-square-foot family homes with three bedrooms, a den and a loft.

To minimize opposition, Bidamar officials met with community members seven times over the past two years to discuss the project. Some residents, however, remain unsatisfied.

“There is an undercurrent of opposition (by people) . . . who feel this project will add density to the area,” Redondo Beach Councilman Joseph Dawidziak said. Opponents collected more than 200 signatures on a petition asking the developer to reduce the size of the project, he said.

But city planning officials said they took pains to ensure that residents can live peaceably next to the commercial enterprises. Attention was paid to everything from acoustic insulation to the positioning and strength of commercial lighting structures, Jones said. The project separates residential parking from commercial parking, which together provide more than 700 spaces.

The city also will require Bidamar to improve traffic conditions and drainage problems on the site, Jones said. The developer will have to install a traffic signal on Pacific Coast Highway and add a right lane at the intersection of Palos Verdes Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway. Bidamar also is required to extend a storm drain that currently dead-ends at the site.

“It’s a challenging type of development--to ensure you can protect the separate uses when they’re in close proximity to each other,” Jones said.

Planning commissioners will take public testimony about the proposed development tonight and are expected to vote on several key permit applications for the project. Unless overturned by the City Council, the commission’s approval is considered final, said Paul Connolly, the city’s planning chief.

The hearing starts at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Redondo Beach City Hall, 415 Diamond St.