LA OKs Harbor Gateway distribution warehouse project over residents’ concerns

By JOSE HERRERA | City News Service

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a proposed warehouse and distribution center for development in Harbor Gateway despite concerns from residents who argue the project will impact their health and worsen the already congested area.

In a unanimous vote, the council denied an appeal filed by concerned residents and advanced the project sought by Prologis, a company specializing in supply-chain and logistics real estate. The one-story, 53-foot tall, 340,298-square-foot warehouse would be built on a combined 15-acre lot at 15116-15216 S. Vermont Ave. and 747-861 W. Redondo Beach Blvd.

The project includes a 25,000-square-foot mezzanine and up to 40,000 square feet of office space, 194 parking spaces, 36 dock-high truck loading positions and more parking spaces for up to 71 truck trailers.

It was approved by the nine-member city Planning Commission earlier this year with concessions. The company agreed to reduce the project’s size and decrease the number of parking spaces, among other minor design changes. The company also agreed to increase the height of a sound and screen wall from 14 feet to 18 feet, and allow murals as a way to beautify the facility.

However, last week, the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee reduced the sound and screen wall to 14 feet, and decided that no murals would be permitted.

The council committee unanimously approved the project and denied the residents’ appeal opposing it on health and congestion grounds, but agreed that Prologis would enter into the city’s mitigation monitoring program. The company offered to make a one-time payment of $1.2 million into a community benefits fund for the immediate vicinity of the project — a measure spearheaded by Councilman Tim McOsker, whose district includes Harbor Gateway.

Additionally, Prologis agreed to provide electric vehicle charging stations, use solar power and reduce the number of truck trips to the facility between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., as well as limiting the use of its 36 loading docks by 25% — prohibiting use for loading and unloading — for that same time frame.

Rosalie Preston, a resident who lives south of Redondo Beach Boulevard, urged the council to oppose the project. She had filed the appeal alongside a group of neighbors.

“Are you prepared to approve a project that would significantly increase air pollution with up to 768 diesel truck trips per day?” Preston asked, citing information from the Planning Department.

“Meanwhile, the approval does not include all feasible mitigations for the air quality impacts of this project, such as requiring all transport trucks using this facility to have engines that at least meet 2017 car standards of operation,” Preston said during Wednesday’s council meeting.