EL SEGUNDO : City Denies Lease Permit for Freight Firm

The City Council refused to allow the owner of a 65,000-square-foot warehouse and office to lease the site to an air freight forwarding company.

The property owner has been trying to lease the vacant site at 605-607 N. Nash St. for more than a year, said Jack Karp, a spokesman for the owner. Although no specific shipping company had been identified, the owner had hoped to market the site in the freight industry, Karp said.

But in a 2-2 vote, the planning commission last month denied the owner’s request for a conditional use permit to operate a shipping company. Commissioners believed the shipping business would be inappropriate in the area, which is zoned primarily for offices and hotels, officials said.

The council agreed Tuesday. Mayor Pro Tem Liam B. Weston and Councilwoman Jane Waag Friedkin voted to deny the owner’s appeal. Mayor Carl Jacobson and Councilman Michael Robbins abstained from the vote, citing conflicts of interest, and Councilman Richard Switz abstained, saying he needed more time to consider the issue.