GARDENA : Voters OK Annexation of El Camino Village

About 860 homes in the area known as El Camino Village are expected to become part of Gardena as a result of a vote Tuesday.

With all but the absentee ballots counted, voters approved the annexation 55% to 45%. The annexation proposal, called Proposition F on the ballot, involves 164 acres of land in unincorporated Los Angeles County, bordered by Crenshaw and Manhattan Beach boulevards and Van Ness and Marine avenues.

The final result won’t be available for about two weeks, when the Los Angeles city clerk will certify the election results. If the absentee ballots don’t change the result, the Los Angeles and Gardena city councils will pass resolutions certifying the election results, Gardena City Clerk May Doi said.

Gardena City Manager Kenneth W. Landau said emergency police and fire numbers and other services could be switched from Los Angeles County to Gardena’s departments as soon as the end of May.

Gardena surrounds the affected part of El Camino Village on three sides. Gardena’s fire and police departments are closer to the neighborhood than county facilities.

Although property taxes for the new residents will not change, utility taxes will drop from 5% to 4%. But those savings may be offset by increased costs in waste removal.