Air Force Agrees to Cut Back Plan for New Housing

After three weeks of negotiations, the Air Force announced Monday that it has agreed not to build military housing on more than half of eight undeveloped acres next to White Point Park in San Pedro.

Last month, residents protested the Air Force’s plan to build on the eight acres overlooking the ocean, saying the housing would impair their views and spoil a popular hiking area.

The acreage has been vacant for decades and is part of a 24-acre military housing complex once owned by the Navy. It was recently turned over to the Air Force because the Long Beach Naval Shipyard is being shut down.

The Air Force had planned to tear down the Navy housing and build 75 houses on the entire 24-acre complex for personnel working 20 miles away at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo.

After negotiating with the Palisades Residents Assn. and the South Shores Homeowners Assn., the Air Force decided it will build 71 homes and leave 4.5 acres of the disputed eight acres vacant, said Aaron Renenger, spokesman for the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base.