REGULAR MEETING
MINUTES - CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Minutes
Redondo Beach City Council
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Closed Session – Adjourned Regular Meeting 4:30 p.m.
Open Session – Regular Meeting 6:00 p.m.
4:30 PM - CLOSED SESSION – ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING
A. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
An Adjourned Regular Meeting of the Redondo Beach City Council was called to order at 4:30 p.m. by Mayor Light in the City Hall Council Chambers, 415 Diamond Street, Redondo Beach, California.
B. ROLL CALL
Councilmembers Present: Waller, Castle, Kaluderovic, Behrendt, Mayor Light, Obagi (arrived at 4:32 p.m.)
Councilmembers Absent: None
Officials Present: Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Joy Ford, City Attorney
Emily Bodkin, Administrative Specialist
C. SALUTE TO THE FLAG AND INVOCATION - None
D. BLUE FOLDER ITEMS – ADDITIONAL BACK UP MATERIALS - None E. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS ON CLOSED SESSION ITEMS AND NONAGENDA ITEMS Liaison Bodkin reported no eComments and one Zoom attendee.
F. RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION – 4:04 P.M.
F.1. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL AND LABOR NEGOTIATOR - The Closed Session is authorized by the Government Code Sec. 54957.6.
AGENCY NEGOTIATOR:
Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Diane Strickfaden, Director of Human Resources
EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS:
Redondo Beach Police Officers’ Association
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F.2. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERSONNEL MATTER/EVALUATION - The Closed Session is authorized by the attorneyclient privilege, Government Code Section 54957(b).
Title: City Manager
F.3. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION - The Closed Session is authorized by the attorney-client privilege, Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1).
Name of Case:
Labono, Greg v. City of Redondo Beach and Does 1-10, Inclusive Case Number: 25TRCV00715
F.4. CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATOR - The Closed Session is authorized by the Government Code Section 54956.8.
AGENCY NEGOTIATORS:
Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Greg Kapovich, Waterfront & Economic Development Director PROPERTY:
239 & 245 N. Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(portions of APN: 7503-029-903)
NEGOTIATING PARTIES:
Allen Sanford, CA Surf Club
UNDER NEGOTIATION:
Lease Status, Price, and Terms
Administrative Specialist Bodkin read titles to be discussed at Closed Session.
City Manager Witzansky announced the following would be participating in Closed Session: City Manager Mike Witzansky, City Attorney Joy Ford, Assistant City Attorney Cheryl Park, Human Resources Director Diane Strickfaden, Outside Labor Negotiator Laura Kalty, Outside Legal Counsel Jordan and possibly W.E.D. Director Greg Kapovich.
Motion by Councilmember Kaluderovic, seconded by Councilmember Obagi, to recess to Closed Session at 4:33 p.m.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
G. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION
Mayor Light reconvened to Open Session at 6:06 p.m.
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Tuesday, January 6, 2026
H. ROLL CALL
Councilmembers Present: Waller, Castle, Kaluderovic, Behrendt, Mayor Light Councilmembers Absent: Obagi
Officials Present: Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Joy Ford, City Attorney
Marc Wiener, Community Development Director
Melissa Villa, Analyst
I. ANNOUNCEMENT OF CLOSED SESSION ACTIONS
City Manager Witzansky had no reportable items from Closed Session.
J. ADJOURN TO REGULAR MEETING
Motion by Councilmember Castle, seconded by Councilmember Waller, to adjourn to the Open Session at 6:07 p.m.
Motion carried 4-0-1 by voice vote. Councilmember Obagi was absent. 6:00 PM – OPEN SESSION – REGULAR MEETING
A. CALL TO ORDER
A Regular Meeting of the Redondo Beach City Council was called to order at 6:07 p.m. by Mayor Light in the City Hall Council Chambers, 415 Diamond Street, Redondo Beach, California.
B. ROLL CALL
Councilmembers Present: Waller, Castle, Kaluderovic, Obagi, Behrendt, Mayor Light
Councilmembers Absent: None
Officials Present: Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Joy Ford, City Attorney
Marc Wiener, Community Development Director
Melissa Villa, Analyst/Liaison
C. SALUTE TO THE FLAG AND INVOCATION
Mayor Light invited veterans and active-duty military to stand and be recognized for their
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service.
Emily, 5th Grader at Washington Elementary School, led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mayor Light asked all to remain standing for a moment of silent invocation.
D. PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS/AB 1234 TRAVEL Councilmember Waller spoke of saying goodbye to Chief Hoffman and welcoming in Chief Sprengel; reported going to a Kings game and spent 10 hours with Fire Station 2; announced the RBPD sponsored Blood Drive at the library on January 7th, and on Wednesday, January 14th the NRBBA is hosting a free mixer at Trusted Gut.
Councilmember Castle announced the monthly King Harbor Association meeting on January 7th to discuss future events.
Councilmember Kaluderovic recognized the Public Safety team for responding to a structure fire in District 3 over the break and the Public Works Department for all their work during the rain keeping storm drain clear; announced a Bike Rodeo hosted by the RBPD on January 31st at 10:00 a.m. and her District 3 Community Meeting to be held on Saturday, January 24th at 9:00 a.m. at the North Branch Library.
Councilmember Obagi recognized Officer Kyle Lofstrom for MCing at Chief Hoffman’s retirement party; thanked the Engineering Department in Public Works for their work in repaving Grant Street to install protected bike lanes; welcomed back Paint ‘n Pour in District 4.
Councilmember Behrendt reported an AB1234 expense for the League of California Cities meeting on Thursday evening.
Mayor Light reported attending a Mayors’ meeting called on by the County Supervisor regarding housing and a meeting with the COG along with several other mayors; noted, during the Mayors’ meeting, they were told those that help collect the distressed sea lions and sea mammals will get first order of service.
E. APPROVE ORDER OF AGENDA
Motion by Councilmember Obagi, seconded by Councilmember Waller, to approve the order of agenda as is.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
F. AGENCY RECESS
F.1. REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY FINANCING AUTHORITY
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CONTACT: STEPHANIE MEYER, FINANCE DIRECTOR
Motion by Councilmember Waller, seconded by Councilmember Castle, to adjourn to the Regular Meeting of the Community Financing Authority at 6:17 p.m.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
F.2. PARKING AUTHORITY - REGULAR MEETING - CANCELLED
CONTACT: GREG KAPOVICH, WATERFRONT & ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
RECONVENE TO REGULAR MEETING FROM AGENCY MEETINGS – 6:20 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Councilmembers Present: Waller, Castle, Kaluderovic, Obagi, Behrendt, Mayor Light
Councilmembers Absent: None
Officials Present: Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Joy Ford, City Attorney
Melissa Villa, Analyst/Liaison
G. BLUE FOLDER ITEMS - ADDITIONAL BACK UP MATERIALS
G.1. For Blue Folder Documents Approved at the City Council Meeting Analyst Villa reported three Blue Folder items: J.1, N.1 and N.2.
Motion by Councilmember Kaluderovic, seconded by Councilmember Waller, to receive and file the Blue Folder items.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
H. CONSENT CALENDAR
H.1. APPROVE AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING FOR THE CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNED AND REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 6, 2026
CONTACT: ELEANOR MANZANO, CITY CLERK
H.2. APPROVE MOTION TO READ BY TITLE ONLY AND WAIVE FURTHER
READING OF ALL ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS LISTED ON THE
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AGENDA
CONTACT: ELEANOR MANZANO, CITY CLERK
H.3. APPROVE THE FOLLOWING CITY COUNCIL MINUTES:
A. DECEMBER 9, 2025 ADJOURNED AND REGULAR MEETING
CONTACT: ELEANOR MANZANO, CITY CLERK
H.4. PAYROLL DEMANDS
CHECKS 30488-30497 IN THE AMOUNT OF $11,870.06, PD. 12/19/25 DIRECT DEPOSIT 304852-305491 IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,757,692.86, PD. 12/19/25
EFT/ACH $9,849.69, PD. 12/11/25 (PP2525)
EFT/ACH $465,907.52, PD. 12/15/25 (PP2524)
EFT/ACH $470,083.53, PD. 12/29/25 (PP2525)
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DEMANDS
CHECKS 122926-123035 IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,879,791.15
EFT CALPERS MEDICAL INSURANCE $569,815.21
DIRECT DEPOSIT 100010067-100010153 IN THE AMOUNT OF $108,371.35, PD.1/2/26
REPLACEMENT DEMAND 122925
CONTACT: STEPHANIE MEYER, FINANCE DIRECTOR
H.5. APPROVE BY 4/5THS VOTE AND TITLE ONLY RESOLUTION NO CC-2601- 001, A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA, AUTHORIZING A 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR BUDGET MODIFICATION APPROPRIATING $650,000 TO THE COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT (CDD) - BUILDING AND SAFETY DIVISION - CONTRACT AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (OUTSOURCED PLANCHECKS) AND PLAN CHECK REVENUE BUDGETS REFLECTING BUILDING
PERMIT FEE REVENUE IN EXCESS OF ANTICIPATED BUDGET TO
SUPPORT OUTSOURCED PLAN-CHECK SERVICES
CONTACT: MARC WIENER, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
H.6. APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS FOR THE CITY PUBLIC WORKS YARD FROM CHARGEPOINT, INC. FOR A TOTAL COST OF $81,610 USING CLEAN POWER ALLIANCE GRANT FUNDS CONTACT: ANDREW WINJE, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
H.7. Pulled by Councilmember Obagi
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Motion by Councilmember Obagi, seconded by Councilmember Castle, to approve Consent Calendar items H.1 through H.6 and excluding H.7.
Mayor Light invited public comments.
Ron Maroko stated he has some transparency questions for the Council regarding H.4; referenced a payment to US Bank Corporate in the approximate amount of $226,000 for a credit card payment for all the City employees and wanted to know who approves the credit cards for the employees and who oversees and reviews the charges, his second concern was an expense for the Redondo Beach Roundtable holiday lunch and wanted to know who attended and how the $420 payment is made for that expense; hoped he would receive a response from someone on those two items.
Mayor Light stated several of them went to the Roundtable holiday lunch; reported that the Council has a fund for lunches and those types of expenses.
Councilmember Obagi stated they also reported the expense on their AB1234 report.
City Manager Witzansky stated historically Councilmembers have participated in the Roundtable events, it’s a community organization, and the holiday lunch is a typical expense that comes out of the Mayor and Council fund for expenditures for lunches, supplies, etc.; stated that the CalCard expenditure is an aggregated payment of all the employees that have credit cards to use for all types of office expenses, each CalCard holder is subject to the policies and procedures with having the card, and each expense needs to have the proper backup and is reviewed by each department’s supervisor for approval; stated the number is large because it is hundreds of employees making purchases and it is a statewide program for municipalities that the City participates in and is run by US Bank.
Jim Mueller (item H.5), District 5, spoke in support of more plan-checkers; hoped the plancheckers would require pre-existing mature trees to be highlighted on site drawings and builders will be encouraged to the full extent of the law to preserve them or specifically include replacements on final permitted drawings.
Allison Callaway (via Zoom) asked the City to encourage more tree planting and tree protection.
Mayor Light interrupted Allison Callaway to inform her that she is speaking under the wrong item. She stated she would wait.
Analyst Villa reported no other hands raised and no eComments.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
Analyst Villa read approve by 4/5ths vote and title only Resolution No. CC-2601-001.
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I. EXCLUDED CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS
H.7. APPROVE THE FOURTH AMENDMENT TO THE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE CITY OF REDONDO BEACH AND CITY MANAGER
CONTACT: JOY A. FORD, CITY ATTORNEY
Councilmember Obagi stated they completed the review of the City Manager’s employment agreement in Closed Session and it became apparent to him that he did not understand the full extent of the duties of the City Manager; noted that over the last two years they have increased the City Manager’s pay by $15,000 each year and proposed a $10,000 raise for this year due to the budget; spoke of the amount of output the City Manager and his leadership team have provided since Mike Witzansky started with the City; stated he and Councilmember Behrendt have discussed the matter and prefer to increase the City Manager pay to $15,000 instead of the $10,000 proposed in the amendment.
Councilmember Behrendt stated he would second the motion to increase the proposed amendment amount by $5,000.
Councilmember Obagi listed numerous City projects that are in progress or have been completed and stated normally projects such as these take years to get started but Public Works have begun them within months of the requests; thanked City Manager Witzansky for all he does for the entire City.
Mayor Light stated he fully supports the increase proposed by Councilmember Obagi and Councilmember Behrendt; noted since 2000, when he became involved in the City, he has never seen a City Manager and management team run as efficiently and productively as the one they currently have; thanked the City Manager for how he has handled all the challenges thrown at him and the excellent way he manages the organization.
City Manager Witzansky spoke positively of the organization as a whole; stated he could not do all he does without the collective support of the elected officials and hired staff within the City; stated that it is a pleasure to work for the City.
Councilmember Waller stated he was reluctant to change the dollar amount they had agreed upon already due to the fiscal situation they are in but not against the change either.
Councilmember Castle noted that they have had over 1,000 items come before Council that past year and have added other items due to the events coming to LA; voiced his support for the added $5,000 proposed increase.
Councilmember Kaluderovic agreed with all the comments made but felt that the City is not in a position to offer a raise given their deficit; stated she is still against the increase.
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Mayor Light confirmed the motion on the floor was from Councilmember Obagi, and seconded by Councilmember Behrendt, to increase the City Manager’s pay increase to $15,000 instead of the previously proposed $10,000.
Mayor Light invited public comments.
Ron Maroko spoke in support of the increase to the City Manager.
Niki Negrete-Mitchell, District 3, spoke in support of the increase for the City Manager.
Analyst Villa reported no eComments and no hands raised on Zoom.
Motion carried 3-2. Councilmembers Kaluderovic and Waller were opposed.
J. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
J.1. For eComments and Emails Received from the Public
Maria Larisa Yasol stated she is a Real Estate professional and her interest is in community development; stated there are about 69,000 residents in the City, 28,000 housing units, and about 15,233 are owner occupied and about 13,314 renter occupied; spoke about 2,700 rental units coming available and felt the City needs to pause and focus on homeownership; asked the Council to put a hold on apartment rentals and direct attention towards home ownership.
Mayor Light stated the City is bound by state mandates.
Ron Maroko, District 3, noted it is the 77th anniversary of the City’s charter and announced there is a display at the library to commemorate the occasion; asked the Council to make a staff referral to direct the Public Amenities Commission to organize events to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States as recommendations back to the City Council.
Pam Sund, District 3, spoke about tree planting and preservation in the City on both public and private property; noted that since most property is privately owned she urged the City and Commissions to update its guidance on when trees can be removed on private property and consider increasing the number of staff in the Building Department so there can be appropriate checks of property prior to tree removal and sufficient enforcement of the City’s ordinances, rules, regulations, and guidelines regarding trees; stated that the tree canopy needs to be preserved and enhanced but will provide benefits for years.
Jim Mueller, District 5, reported that the tree canopy in Redondo is ranked 4th out of the 5 South Bay cities and the trend is fewer and fewer trees; stated that 75% of the trees in Redondo Beach are on property to be developed or private property and are not protected by the City’s municipal code; spoke of builders only aiming to put as many units on a lot for more money in their pockets and stated trees just get in their way; mentioned there
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are Councilmembers that do not feel it is vital to protect trees on private property and that owners have the right to do whatever they want on their property; spoke of property owners being allowed to do many things but spoke of mature trees contributing to people’s quality of life and increasing property values for entire neighborhoods; spoke of the City doing all they can to plant and preserve trees on public property but nothing on private property, which is 75% of the property in Redondo Beach; stated preservation should be the first goal and more should be done to incentivize property owners to care for the mature trees.
Niki Negrete-Mitchell referenced the last time she spoke at the Council meeting was about the testing errors and construction issues along the Metro lines; stated excavation is known to cause stress on surrounding soil and noted that she lives near the trenches so is hypersensitive to all the associated risks and has a compromised immune system and may be displaced if the situation continues; reported over 300 senior residents may be displaced due to Metro’s actions; stated on December 27th there was a natural gas pipeline that exploded in Castaic and caused more than 19,000 residents to shelter in place and research showed it was probably due to the movement of the surface that caused the pipeline to break; spoke about the risks of the Torrance refinery and the dangers of transporting people through that corridor; stated that the City cannot be complacent given the significant risks of the liquid petroleum gas and asked that the City take this seriously.
Jose, LA resident, reported on December 28th he was walking on the Strand and was struck from behind by an e-Scooter rider and injured badly; wanted to know if the City would consider putting more lighting in the area, imposing stricter rules on e-Scooters and e-Bikes, or imposing fines on the riders; spoke in support preservation of the tree canopy.
Councilmember Obagi asked the speaker where on the Strand he was struck.
Jose stated he was struck just below Veterans’ Park.
Allison Callaway (via Zoom) spoke in support of the work done on the bike path and mentioned the benefit of the current Council working together as a team; commented that she feels tree planting and housing development can co-exist beautifully with the right type of planning; noted that Redondo’s tree canopy is behind other neighboring cities but felt it is an opportunity for the City to think ahead to put the right protections and policies in place; urged the Council to put the correct policies and protections in place when it comes to housing developments and tree preservation and expansion so it could benefit the future of the City.
Analyst Villa reported no hands raised and one eComment on Non-Agenda Items.
K. EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS - None
L. PUBLIC HEARINGS - None
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M. ITEMS CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS AGENDAS - None
N. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION PRIOR TO ACTION
N.1. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON DRAFT ZONING AMENDMENTS
RELATED TO REVITALIZATION OF THE ARTESIA AND AVIATION
BOULEVARDS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE GENERAL PLAN LAND USE
ELEMENT UPDATE AND THE ARTESIA AND AVIATION CORRIDORS AREA
PLAN (AACAP)
CONTACT: MARC WIENER, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Community Development Director Wiener noted he was joined by Planning Manager Sean Scully and Contract Planner John Ciampa; stated he was presenting an introductory discussion on the draft code amendments as a follow up from the August 5, 2025 City Council meeting; stated one direction given by Council was to eliminate the parking requirements and reported the City has since adopted an ordinance that does that; stated that Council gave them direction to increase the FAR to 1.5 for Artesia/Aviation in the Land Use Element and tonight they are presenting the associated development standards for that along with rooftop dining regulations; turned the floor over to John Ciampa to go over the details of the code amendments.
Contract Planner Ciampa provided seven development standards needed to achieve the increase in FAR:
1) Increase the FAR from 0.6 to 1.5
2) Increase the maximum stories from 2 to 3
3) Increase the maximum height from 30 ft. to 45 ft.
4) Require a 3rd floor setback of 5 ft from the 2nd floor building face fronting Artesia and Aviation Blvd.
5) Reduce the street side setbacks for corner lots from 10 ft. to 5 ft. 6) Increase the front setback from 3 ft. to 5 ft. in the C-2-PD zone 7) Eliminate the 10% usable public open space requirement Contract Planner Ciampa stated along with the change in the development standards there have been design standards incorporated into the regulations in the zoning code for the AACAP:
1) Require a minimum 1st floor ceiling height of 12 ft. 2) Require higher quality façade materials
3) 70% transparency for glass windows for retail use along the first floor 4) Establish pedestrian oriented lighting
Contract Planner Ciampa provided some design examples taken from Venice, CA and Dana Point, CA of recent developments that show the features staff is recommending for the development and design standards; addressed the questions regarding rooftop dining regulations with four responses:
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1) Require operating and performance standards addressing hours of operation, alcohol service, limit amplified sound, noise mitigation measures, seating capacity, and configuration
2) Allow limited rooftop structures at a maximum height of 10 ft. 3) Minimize visual and neighborhood impacts
4) Design requirements to ensure architectural compatibility and avoid lighting impacts
Councilmember Waller asked if the 45 ft height limit proposed is to accommodate the rooftop structures.
Community Development Director Wiener stated it is not, it is independent from the height allowance for the building.
City Manager Witzansky noted that one thing that came out of their research for the AACAP with potential developers was the ability to have extended ceiling heights in every story was critical and that is why they landed at the 45 ft for three stories.
Contract Planner Ciampa provided a couple of questions from staff to the City Council for some policy direction regarding the rooftop dining regulations:
1) Should the proposed rooftop dining regulations be considered under an Administrative Use Permit or a Conditional Use Permit?
2) Should rooftop dining be allowed exclusively in the AACAP or Citywide? Community Development Director Wiener added that the Administrative Use Permit is similar to a CUP and can be customized by the City and is discretionary; noted the process would be more streamlined and it would be approved by staff.
City Manager Witzansky provided more explanation between a AUP and a CUP; noted that a CUP is the more rigorous process and often is the barrier and prohibition to interest; recommended the AUP.
Community Development Director Wiener went over the next steps needed to effectuate the changes:
1) Return to City Council on January 20th to continue discussion on Land Use Element, discuss Public Institutional Zone FAR, and schedule additional meetings if necessary for February
2) Land Use Element and code amendments adoption on March 3rd 3) Call for election on March 3rd
4) Election (Article 27) on June 2, 2026, limited to two items: 1) AACAP FAR limit, development standards, and rooftop dining and 2) Public Institutional FAR limit Community Development Director Wiener stated if more time is needed it would be pushed to the November election.
City Manager Witzansky stated ideally Council would adopt the Land Use Element on
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February 17th and stated March 3rd reflects the deadline for the actions; noted that their focus needs to be in getting to a conclusion on the matters Director Wiener listed out in order to get everything ready for the June election with the voters.
Community Development Director Wiener confirmed that staff’s recommendation to Council is to receive the report, provide direction to staff, and to continue the Land Use Element discussion to January 20, 2026.
City Manager Witzansky noted that the individual policy decisions being presented that evening is an aggregation of a lot of work that has occurred over many months and they are critical steps needed to move forward with the AACAP; stated these development standards give the City the maximum flexibility to incentivize development along the Blvd; noted that even if it is approved the City always has the capacity to restrict the standards down the road and stressed the importance of the items subject to Article 27.
Mayor Light questioned the interpretation of the parts of the General Plan going to the voters and stated that Article 27 is written to compare against the as-built standard not against the current zoning and recalled there are a number of changes to the commercial elements from the GPAC; voiced his concerns with segregating elements of the General Plan and approving it at the same time and saying certain components don’t get voted on and stated because in aggregate you have to look at it in aggregate.
Community Development Director Wiener stated he would review it with the City Attorney; noted he is not sure if they are legally obligated to combine all the changes; felt there is potential to have them bifurcated; stated the reason the FAR for the AACAP is triggering Article 27 is because that is an actual development standard; reported that on January 20th staff will do a full analysis of the Land Use Element but did not see anything else that would trigger the Article 27.
City Manager Witzansky added, as part of their January 20th presentation, they will incorporate and include any of the other elements staff views are intensifying their development opportunity.
Mayor Light questioned if all they are going to be approving, and voters will be voting on, are the general plan changes associated and the housing ones that are already incorporated and then everything else will be bundled into a separate general plan release that Council approves separately.
City Manager Witzansky stated it will follow an elective and an administrative track.
Mayor Light asked when it goes to an election versus the part that gets administratively approved.
City Manager Witzansky responded that they are starting to put that together; reported what would be subject to election on January 20th; stressed that they need resolution on the items that they need to tee up for the ballot.
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Mayor Light still questioned the separation. More discussion followed.
Mayor Light mentioned that some of the items are ordinances and noted those would not go to the voters.
Planning Manager Scully mentioned that the Article 27 trigger occurs with major change in allowable land use either by General Plan amendment or zoning ordinance amendment.
Mayor Light stated that clears that up; voiced concern regarding the rooftop dining going up to 45 ft plus the extra 10 ft and felt they should limit the total height; asked what the percentage of the structure could be at that height and noted his concern is due to the close proximity to the street; stated with an AUP there needs to be certain standards to protect the privacy of residents but noted it is the Council’s decision; stated he would prefer a Citywide rooftop dining ordinance and not just limit it to the AACAP; asked staff if they read the detailed comments made by Ms. MacMorran, Ms. Mitchell, and Arias.
Community Development Director Wiener reported reading the Arias one and briefly reviewed the other two.
Mayor Light suggested that staff should evaluate the comments and at the next meeting come back with an evaluation and their feedback; agreed with having transparency but stated with big windows there can be a negative side and wondered if the standards would prevent overly lit or gaudy appearance.
Community Development Director Wiener stated it would be addressed in the draft ordinance and would be subject to input and change or design guidelines to try to help achieve higher quality design; stated in their investigation of attractive storefront design it seems like glazing and being open to the public view is important.
More discussion followed regarding the guidelines, using the AACAP document and mirroring the guidelines to match the ordinance, and the ability to go back to the guidelines later since it does not pertain to Article 27; spoke about not repeating all the work they did with the smoke shop ordinance regarding the appearance.
Community Development Director Wiener stated staff intend to bring a Citywide signage ordinance before the Council next year; commented on the additional 10 ft. allowance for the rooftop structure is intended to be an unenclosed structure with an exception for elevators, which would be addressed in the code.
Councilmember Behrendt spoke in support of staff’s draft; commented that everything they have hits exactly the direction Council provided at the previous meeting and thanked them; stated all the residents in his district are excited about the AACAP; supported the rooftop dining and felt it should be an AUP, liked the Surfer Girl graphic that was shown as an example; stated he doesn’t want the rooftop Citywide decision to delay moving forward with the AACAP and commented that he does not feel all areas are suitable for
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rooftop dining; reported reading all the comments submitted by the public and felt they were thoughtful but he did not feel a full staff assignment is needed for a matrix evaluation of the comments; supported moving forward with the item.
Councilmember Waller thanked staff for the thorough presentation and supporting documents; reported reading the comments received from the public; asked if tree and landscaping requirements should be part of this item or as a separate one.
City Manager Witzansky stated it would be covered in different administrative areas and not necessarily an Article 27 concern; noted they will evaluate the comments and public feedback and will find the appropriate place to add that type of design standard obligation but was unsure how critical it would be to the City’s bigger election issue.
Councilmember Waller voiced concern about ground floor being at grade as opposed to allowing stairs up and for parking; felt if they are trying to make the area pedestrian walkable and friendly it is important that walking is at grade, similar to Riviera Village; supported AUP as opposed to a CUP; spoke in support of rooftop dining being Citywide and not just for the AACAP but if there are unintended consequences he was fine to not delay the process; stated rooftop dining in the Coastal Zone would be a good thing for both his district and Councilmember Castle’s.
City Manager Witzansky noted the concern that if the process to ensure the standards are appropriate for all locations slows them down they will identify it and set it aside; stated if it can be easily applied throughout the community then they will go ahead with a Citywide rooftop dining policy vote.
Councilmember Obagi agreed with comments made by Councilmembers Behrendt and Waller; stated the problem is that business owners are being forced to leave due to rent increases but then the property owners leave the buildings empty and make no attempts to revitalize their property or bring economic prosperity to the area; stated his number one concern regarding development on Artesia Blvd is the impact to the adjacent residential neighborhoods; asked to share slide 2B which showed that the City, under the City’s ordinances, has allowed properties to develop all the way to the property line which gives no space to the residents; noted, under the new roof top ordinance, it says rooftop dining operations shall be set back 20 ft from a property line that is contiguous to a residential zone; showed on the slide that the setback would be an improvement and commented that this drastic change is what is needed in order to incentivize revitalization/reinvestment on Artesia Blvd; stated the repetitive thing they hear is the quicker the City can make the path to redevelopment on Artesia Blvd the more success they are likely to have; addressed the concerns made by Ms. Mitchell regarding someone exercising AB 2011 and stated he is inclined to support going with the maximum 45 ft for the reasons that the City Manager stated; addressed the Mayor’s concerns regarding privacy for the residents adjacent to the structure and wondered if there weren’t some type of privacy treatments that could be required.
City Manager Witzansky stated they would encourage developers to move the use
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forward and create buffers to prohibit people from nearing the edge of the property that would allow them to look down into neighboring residential properties; noted for safety reasons setbacks would be required from the roof’s edge anyway.
Councilmember Obagi stated he strongly favors getting the item on the ballot for June.
Councilmember Castle supported the AUP, the Citywide rooftop dining, and the 45 ft height limit plus the 10 ft; noted that parking requirements for restaurants may prohibit additional restaurant square footage and may be a limiting factor for restaurants around the City; stated that it is great that ultimately the voters will approve it; opined a matrix is not needed for the Blue Folder items and other comments that they received that evening but that they can incorporate them into their overall planning.
City Manager Witzansky stated they can take the comments and put them into themes or buckets, and they can be addressed in the staff report on the 20th.
Councilmember Kaluderovic felt that they are in a consensus to push the item for June; thanked staff for preparing and acting with expediency.
Mayor Light voiced support for the AUP and reducing bureaucracy to encourage investment; opined that Council needs to establish some policies that staff can act on so they know what the Council’s is interested in; stated the policies should be instilled at the same time or in close conjunction with the vote; supported moving forward as long as they make sure they are not violating Article 27.
Discussion followed to summarize the actions Council supported.
Community Development Director stated in February they will take it to the Planning Commission for comments and will relay the comments to the City Council; reported that on March 3rd they have the adoption of the Land Use Element and the zoning ordinance, that would effectuate the code modifications, and they will call for the election on March 3rd, and it will go on the June 2nd election; stated staff will evaluate how Article 27 applies to this and whether certain elements can be bifurcated so they have a clear answer at the January 20th meeting.
Motion by Councilmember Waller, seconded by Councilmember Kaluderovic, to receive and file the presentation and follow Council’s direction for the rooftop dining and AUP and to continue the discussion to the January 20th meeting.
Mayor Light invited public comments.
Jim Mueller stated that Beau Basse conducted the only survey of North Redondo residents that he could find; noted that he did not hear any reference to a consumer survey or any discussion of what the people living around Artesia actually want; read from Beau Basse’s report: “Most respondents said they primarily travel along Artesia by car, with fewer walking, biking, or using public transit; many noted that they would walk or bike
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more often if they corridor felt safer and more comfortable, they specifically mentioned speeding traffic, narrow sidewalks, and limited crossings as major barriers. Overall, Artesia Blvd is viewed more as a vehicle corridor than a pedestrian friendly community street.”; stated he had presented to the Public Works Commission a four part plan to improve Artesia walkability and hoped they would consider it and forward their recommendations to the Council; spoke about big buildings creating an oppressive feeling on the corridor and that fancy rooftop dining will not succeed in a neighborhood that is primarily middle-class families; stated a commercial district must serve the demographic in order to be successful.
Teresa Mitchell, District 4, thanked Council for considering her comments and for all the work they have done; noted that MU-1 was not included in any of the zoning changes in the AACAP and stated if they are going to add design standards it would be good to have those included in that part of the corridor (from Aviation Way to Slauson); felt that it is important to be very specific on what the City wants in the commercial development because, even though they have a broad envelope for things to change, they most likely won’t change again since it has taken this long already; stated the biggest thing is the height limit and spoke of the single-family homes off Aviation where residents would not want people to be able to look into their bedrooms; suggested that lots over a certain size would have the public open space.
Maria Larisa Yasol stated she has lived on Artesia and Prospect for about 20 years and that the problem there is traffic and the division between North and South Redondo; spoke of the speed limit on 190th and Artesia at 35 MPH and suggested they slow it down to 15 MPH.
Holly Osborne, District 5, spoke of the “no parking” requirements and asked what will happen when there’s no parking left; asked the Council to explain it to her.
Councilmember Obagi responded that in the AACAP they found 60% or 40% of the street parking on Artesia Blvd was unoccupied most of the time and there are no parking meters; learned from the development community and the UCLA Center for Parking Policy that parking does not need to be mandated; reported he went to a seminar where different communities talked about repealing their parking ordinances because the market will dictate how much parking is needed; stated the AACAP has a plan to eventually fund and acquire a City parking lot.
City Manager Witzansky added if a parking problem is created after they utilize all the surplus spaces the City can reinstate parking standards; noted that would mean they were successful and it is a problem they would welcome.
Discussion followed that no public vote would be needed for that, just an administrative action by Council.
Analyst Villa reported no hands raised on Zoom and two eComments in support.
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Councilmember Obagi referred back to Jim Mueller’s point about the sidewalks not being wide and stated he fully agreed with him; stated the summary in the staff report says the ordinance requires a setback of at least 3 to 5 ft in the front yard to expand the sidewalk space but to get that additional sidewalk space somebody needs to tear down the building and build something new; stated there is no incentive if they keep the standards the same; stated he appreciated Ms. Mitchell’s comments regarding privacy; voiced concern that even if 3 to 5 ft is added to the sidewalk that pedestrians will still be walking pretty close to the storefront and wondered if people would be able to see flat signage on the storefront; suggested possibly adopting at a later date requirements for some sort of blade signs for better visibility; asked staff if they could come back with design standards that have privacy protections.
City Manager Witzansky stated yes and that it would be part of the AUP process; noted it would be a critical condition and concern of staff to evaluate how it would impact adjacent residential communities with proposed projects; pointed out that a lot of deliberative, community outreach and public input was put into the development of the AACAP and they are at the tail end of the process now; noted that the elements that were enshrined in the AACAP are reflected in their recommendations.
Mayor Light added that the GPAC had open meetings in different parts of the community and lots of public vetting was completed.
Councilmember Obagi stated he had a number of community meetings to discuss Artesia Blvd.
Mayor Light noted they also approved a contract with Arias to help market and pull in key businesses that they feel would be a good fit for the area.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
Motion by Councilmember Behrendt, seconded by Councilmember Castle, to take a fiveminute break.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
RECONVENE TO REGULAR MEETING FROM RECESS – 8:08 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Councilmembers Present: Waller, Castle, Kaluderovic, Obagi, Behrendt, Mayor Light
Councilmembers Absent: None
Officials Present: Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Joy Ford, City Attorney
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Marc Wiener, Community Development Director
Sean Scully, Planning Manager
Melissa Villa, Analyst/Liaison
N.2. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE GENERAL PLAN LAND USE
ELEMENT UPDATE WITH A SPECIFIC FOCUS ON POLICIES RELATED TO
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
CONTACT: MARC WIENER, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
City Manager Witzansky stated the item is an introductory conversation, it was part of the City’s strategic plan, and they are looking for a broad policy reaction and discussion that evening; noted nothing needs to be resolved that evening and it is not as time sensitive as the other items discussed that night.
Community Development Director Wiener stated they would be discussing the policies that evening and receiving policy direction from the City Council; provided an overview of the City’s current Historic Preservation Program and consists of: 1) the municipal code ordinance, which provides the process for nominating a structure and the allowance for a Mills Act, 2) Historic Context Statement, which is a document that digs into the history of the City, and 3) a Historic Preservation Plan, which is similar to a guideline document; reported that the municipal code has several stated purposes of the program and highlighted a few: 1) to safeguard the City’s heritage by encouraging protection of landmarks, 2) fostering civic and neighborhood pride with the sense of identity and historic buildings, 3) to enhance the visual character of the City, and 4) to protect and safeguard property rights, which also factors into the process for nominating a property as a historic landmark; stated, pursuant to the City’s municipal code, the process for a local landmark can only be nominated by the property owner, the property must be at least 50 years old or it can be 30 years old but needs to be exceptional or at risk of demolition and needs to meet specific criteria; spoke about the process for creating historic districts; reported the City currently has 154 properties on their register for historic landmarks, they were all owner nominated and eligible for the Mills Act; stated the Mills Act is an agreement that reduces property taxes in exchange for the owner’s agreement to do maintenance and repair on the historic building; noted you have to be a landmark property in order to obtain a Mills Act contract; explained the criteria for landmarking; reported there is another category separate from the landmark properties called the Potential Historic Resource List and it is comprised of properties not designated or listed by the owner but based on a survey that was performed between 1986 and 1996; explained that the historic resource survey was done by a professional that drove through the City, did a windshield survey, evaluated a lot of different houses and decided based on the architectural characteristics that they should be included on the list; reported there are over a thousand properties on the list; stated 173 of the properties on the list are rated A or B and according to the municipal code they are treated as historic resources; stated the properties require a Certificate of Appropriateness for modifications or demolitions to the building that goes before the PAC; noted the staff report contained some issues with this: 1) the Public Resources Code notes that the survey should be updated every five years to stay legally
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valid, and in this case the survey is 30 years old, 2) the mandating of treating the property as historic conflicts with the sections of the code that say it requires owner consent, and 3) due to the conflict in the code, there is limited ability to impose the historic requirements on the properties that are on the Resource List that are deemed potentially historic; explained that the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) is the discretionary process if any modifications are to be made to a landmark property or a potentially historic property and contains criteria in order to issue the COA; noted that it is issued by the PAC and when reviewing the Application for Modifications they apply the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation; provided details on the Standards for Rehabilitation; stated in order for CEQA to apply to a historic resource it must be eligible for the state or national register or listed on those registers and noted that one of four criteria need to be met for the state register; stated criteria number 3 is the one that triggers it the most since it is related to the architecture or if there was a noteworthy architect that designed or constructed the building or if someone of importance was associated with the building (noted it is very subjective and a matter of opinion); stated he wanted Council to be aware that CEQA does cover historic preservation but it does not address the local landmark properties only those that are eligible for the state and national register; stated the reason they are discussing this item is because there are policies in the Land Use Element that address historic preservation and the City’s existing General Plan Land Use Element does not have any historic preservation policies; reported he has provided a list in the staff report for them to review but wanted to highlight Policy LU-7.1; reported that the Planning Commission reviewed it on August 1, 2024 and provided some recommendations for it and recommendations for the implementation measures of the historic preservation policies; stated that the recommended modifications address strengthening the City’s ability to designate a resource and create a process to give the City more control when a resource is designated as opposed to the property owner; stated the other policies in the General Plan Land Use Element are straightforward; asked the Council: Should the Land Use Element Policies and associated ordinance that the City has continue with the voluntary designation or provide the City with the ability to designate properties; noted that mandating historic designation would provide greater protection for properties 50 years and older however it would impact property rights and comes with potential legal and political challenges; reported the City sees about 3 to 4 properties voluntarily listed each year because they want to obtain the Mills Act contract.
Councilmember Behrendt asked, “What is the Mills Act contract?” Community Development Director Wiener went over the details of the Mills Act contract; noted that the owner agrees to perform repair and maintenance in exchange for the savings in property tax reduction and the time period is 10 years but they can renew it at the end of the 10 year period; stated there is loss for the City in terms of property tax revenue.
Mayor Light asked how many properties the City loses due to demolition or alteration that are in the A and B category.
Planning Manager Scully stated, in the last 10 years, the City has taken 3 to 5 through
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the process that were A’s and B’s that were delisted and demolished; noted that the historic research was extensive and they had alterations done without permits and the quality of the historic resource had been significantly degraded.
Mayor Light stated he noticed the City had tracked it through 2021 but has not been tracked since according to the documents staff gave them; spoke of the list being inaccurate.
Planning Manager Scully reported that they are reviewing the lists and have been doing a lot of work on the list to get them accurate.
Community Development Director Wiener felt they could increase the number of volunteer applications with more outreach, marketing, and education of the Historic Preservation Program; reported that he is working with a subcommittee formed by the Public Amenities Commission to brainstorm ideas on how to market the program and update the City’s webpage; wanted the Council to consider whether to amend the municipal code to remove the requirement that Potential Historic Resources rated as A or B be treated as historic landmarks; explained that the list is 30 years old and legally fraught, and the list has 173 properties where the owners did not provide consent; asked whether the City should move forward with preparing an updated historic resources survey at this time; noted the added benefits but also noted it would be costly and take up significant staff time but would create a new list of Potentially Historic properties; stated staff’s recommendations that evening is for the Council to: 1) receive and file the report and provide policy directions to staff, 2) continue the Land Use Element discussion to January 20th, and 3) direct staff to prepare an ordinance amending the municipal code making it so that Potential Historic Resources are not treated as landmark properties; noted that if Council prefers to go in the direction of making it a mandate, then the City should probably change the code to make it consistent.
Mayor Light spoke about a property that was related to the Dominguez family, was one of the oldest buildings in North Redondo, and very historical but the City was not able to save it; stated, even though staff says the ordinances give the City all the power, they seem to have no teeth and were not able to save the most historic building in North Redondo and asked if he is getting that wrong.
Planning Manager Scully recalled that the historic resource or Potential Historic Resource was in a significantly degraded condition and as a result qualified through the Certificate of Appropriateness to be demolished.
Mayor Light stated he saw the pictures in the paper and it looked very historic and the City just let the person demolish it; asked why the City even has preservation as part of their policies and stated he doesn’t understand why staff is recommending going even worse than they are today with their policy; spoke of all the historic buildings on his street are eroding; commented that the City’s standards don’t mean the home cannot be altered, it just has certain requirements to keep that historic look and historic structure; stated the City is losing several of the historic homes and noted that many go to developers who wouldn’t voluntarily enter it and they tear them down to build.
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City Manager Witzansky said he appreciates the policy concerns the Mayor is raising; stated the basis for the recommendation is to address the inconsistency, the legality, and the basis for the A and B designation that exists in the current code.
Mayor Light asked why the recommendation isn’t to make the rest of the ordinance congruent with the mandatory evaluation.
City Manager Witzansky stated that the basis for the A and B must be substantiated through a more iterative process and in order to have that process the City will have to spend money and significant time.
Mayor Light noted both the Budget and Strategic Planning session says staff are to prepare a contract for completion of Citywide Historic Resources survey.
City Manager Witzansky stated the Community Development Department does not have the capacity at this time to execute what is needed and it will be very labor intensive; stated, for now, it becomes a broad policy discussion that the Council needs to have on whether they want a voluntary program or if they want a more restrictive obligatory program and went into more explanation.
More discussion followed regarding the inconsistencies with the current ordinance, why the program has not been an issue thus far, and the inability of the City to justify a denial due to the nature of the survey and when it was created.
City Manager Witzansky stated that the balance of this discussion is policy and whether the Council believes the community wants to preserve these things more rigorously or if the City wants to stick with the more voluntary based program.
Mayor Light stated cities such as Eureka have implemented stronger ordinances and have provided economic value to their city because they are preserving history; spoke of the City losing character and history every time one of those homes is torn down and noted a few examples of artwork that may be torn down since the City has no process to preserve the art on the buildings, landmarks, etc.
City Manager Witzansky stated that is all true and Council needs to make the policy call and pick a lane so that staff can advise how to execute that lane.
Mayor Light went into more discussion regarding the Mills Act and that it is a temporary savior since it is only for 10 years and the children that inherit the property tear it down; stated that he is appalled at the lack of care for the City’s historic heritage.
Councilmember Behrendt felt the recommendations by staff strike the right balance; felt the voluntary program is making good progress; supported the PAC subcommittee to do additional outreach and educate people on the program to help the community understand the benefits and incentivize those that qualify; stated if that is the direction
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Council decides to go, they would like to have updates from Director Wiener; stated the mandate seems controversial and unnecessary and would like the City to have the opportunity to do the additional outreach first; stated, on a personal note, that he is reluctant to invade the province of a private owner who may not be in a position to maintain it or may need to use it for financial obligations; noted that the City is not in a position to buy the homes and take them over; commented on the cost of the historic survey being about $175,000 plus the extensive staff time that would be needed to do the survey.
Mayor Light asked if the City has lost historic homes and if they have added to the 175 historic homes.
Planning Manager Scully stated some owners have demolished Potentially Historic Resources and nothing has been added to the list since they survey.
Discussion followed that some homes have been added to the register through the historic landmarking, that there might be a net increase but unsure of the number, and that some A’s and B’s have been lost but that they are unsure of the numbers that have been added or lost.
City Manager Witzansky pointed out that the windshield survey was done in 1996 and is so outdated it is hard to know the validity of it.
More discussion followed regarding the program being ineffective, that they have potentially lost historical homes due to modifications made to the homes, and areas where historic homes were lost and more modern construction was developed.
Councilmember Waller stated he is hesitant to go forward with opting people in if they don’t have a full accurate survey; spoke of the windshield survey being outdated; suggested a piecemeal approach might be the way to approach it until they have the resources in the budget to do the full survey; reported talking to the City Manager about doing a less formal survey, creating a list, and then do some strong outreach and marketing to inform people that they have a Potentially Historic Resource; noted that people have been opted in without their knowledge; felt the informal identification, communication, and marketing could be productive and they could also facilitate in connecting owners of historic properties together since they would have similar issues and they could possibly help each other with contractors; spoke about the criteria of the home being 50 years old and felt that it was no longer a good criteria anymore and suggested they choose a date of significance.
Mayor Light agreed that the way the City has done it in the past is wrong; noted other cities’ ordinances coordinate with the current owners of designated properties; stated the grading system does weed out whether a home should be historic or not and not based only on age.
Councilmember Castle asked the City Attorney, that in terms of enforcing it, because
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there is a disagreement between what the City has in the ordinances and what they have in policy, would it be easy for a person to sue and defeat being included on the list.
City Attorney Ford stated he was correct.
Councilmember Castle suggested they clean up the language just for that sake; agreed with the points brought up by Councilmember Behrendt that the program should remain voluntary and that the Mills Act is a great program to protect the City’s history; stated databases are now available and they have the Certificate of Occupancy of every building in Redondo Beach and could easily do a search and contact owners of properties of a certain age and educate them on the historic designation.
More discussion followed regarding the data gathering and update of the previous inventory.
Community Development Director Wiener stated it would be important that the survey does not go straight to making the property historic as it does now unless that is the policy direction the Council wants to go.
Councilmember Castle noted another reason they should keep the program voluntary is that the first half of their meeting has been on reinvigorating Artesia and on the Land Use language that would include commercial properties and most of the commercial properties on Artesia are more than 50 years old which would cause issues to revitalization if they made it mandatory.
More discussion followed.
Councilmember Kaluderovic stated wealth is accumulated through property ownership than any other means; pointed out that younger generations do not have the same opportunities that previous generations had to capitalize on that wealth and it is not for the City to determine what is appropriate; stated there needs to be a balance of how they structure this to preserve history but they can’t decide what wealth people get to keep; spoke of the City needing to do a better job, update the survey, and increase outreach to inform residents that have the potential properties; stated they need to be careful how they talk about those who might be participating in wealth that has been passed down.
Mayor Light stated he thought it was included in the budget.
City Manager Witzansky reported it was approved in the 24-25 fiscal year budget, but it has lapsed and would need to be re-approved and reinstated in this current fiscal year.
Mayor Light commented that he does agree that they are not there to be arbiters of wealth that owners have built up through the years but they are the only entity that can do historic preservation of the town and it is part of their responsibilities and they need to balance that; voiced his passion for this item and felt they need to not go backwards from the little protection they already have; noted that the Planning Commission was asked for
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feedback but the Public Amenities Commission was not and he would like to know what they recommend.
Community Development Director Wiener stated the code specifies that the Planning Commission is charged with reviewing modifications to the General Plan and the Public Amenities Commission does not have that responsibility.
City Manager Witzansky stated it is perfectly fine if the Council wants to refer this conversation to the PAC and it will not hold up the election; felt their advice would be appropriate.
Public comments were invited.
Ron Maroko apologized to Community Development Director Wiener for the comments he would be making; stated the Mills Act document that the Community Development puts out is from 1993 and pointed out that the contract renews annually but it is a 10-year contract; opined that the City does not need to amend the ordinance and it should remain a fully voluntary process, there is no reason for the City to designate landmarks; stated the City has the ability to designate historic districts and encourage people to do it; stated he has presented documents to modify the Mills Act contract to encourage the people who are getting landmarked to be part of a historic district and he hoped it would be added to the policy; hoped that Council will direct the City Manager to direct Community Development to make it a priority; stated he thinks the problem is that everything that comes to the Public Amenities is reactive and the City needs to do better at being proactive; noted the first thing that needs to be done is to get the Certified Local Government Report filed and stated the City is one year delinquent; noted that he volunteered to help with the report; stated they have control over historic districts and they have two in the City; reported submitting one on North Garnet Street back in September and they are waiting for it to come back; stated when the PAC agendize items they would like to see it come back to the PAC but they are told it is policy and needs to be directed to Community Development to put it back on; referenced a policy book in the Council’s materials and stated they should look at pages 337 and 341 to 345 because there are issues, actions, and objectives that can be done; stated he is going to pass out something that goes back to 2010 on education programs; wanted to talk about the resources services but ran out of time.
Motion by Councilmember Waller, seconded by Councilmember Kaluderovic, to receive and file the materials submitted by Ron Maroko.
Ron Moore reported that he and his wife own the last property listed in the landmark book; stated it just went through the landmarking process in 2024 and Community Development Director Wiener helped them with the rest of the process for the Mills Act; clarified that the Mills Act is a 10-year contract that auto renews every year so you’re always ten years out; explained the benefits of the Mills Act to clear up confusion; stated that their house was listed in the 1986 survey as an A-rated craftsman and in 2022 they went to the Planning Department to talk about making a small kitchen addition and to get some
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guidance; stated that the A and B listing is a starting point and not an ending point; spoke of the list being used as a starting point for the City and if he had known they were subject to the restrictions upfront they could have saved a bundle on taxes by landmarking the property when they bought it and not 24 years later.
Monica Moore, 707 South Broadway, stated she is proud to be on the list; disagreed with recommendation number 3 and felt that it goes against everything that the City has been working toward; recommended they update the survey and provide a resource list for homeowners and suggested they look at what other cities are doing that have Historical Resources like Redondo; strongly urged the Council not to weaken the program and to keep the list.
Teresa Mitchell reported that she has permitted a lot of properties in a lot of different cities and what she has found is that the cities with a robust Historic Preservation Ordinance adds value to the Historic Resources; stated the City of Pasadena has a great historic group and a lot of resources for residents; noted that San Diego’s process eliminates using resources to go out and spend money doing surveys by including a secondary questionnaire in their permit process which has the owner provide the additional criteria needed; noted that the City’s historic preservation ordinance does not have enough information in it that helps a builder.
Christina Kelly stated preserving historical homes in Redondo Beach matters for the environment, homeowners, and renters; noted it is how the City, especially through the Mills Act, can strengthen and expand historic preservation; spoke of the historic homes reflecting the early development of the community and when they are demolished the City loses the tangible connection to the shared history and identity; spoke about the uniqueness of the different styles of homes and that without preservation neighborhoods risk becoming uniform and losing the charm; stated historical preservation is also about environmental responsibility and noted that a historical home’s construction related carbon was released decades ago but if it is demolished and a new build is done it creates a massive new carbon impact through demolition, waste, landfill use and carbon intensive materials; stated that the Mills Act is a preserving tool that provides significant property tax reductions and makes historical homeownership more affordable; pointed out that most homeowners are unaware of the program and the City could do more with increased outreach, clear guidance, workshops, and provide real examples of local tax savings; suggested simplifying the application process and offering staff support to increase participation in the program and if they expanded the eligibility to include bungalows and cottages it would ensure preservation is inclusive of the whole community; suggested pairing the Mills Act with additional incentives such as reduced permit fees, grants for repairs, and flexibility for energy efficient upgrades would further encourage participation; stated public recognition through plaques, walking tours, and City features could also foster pride and interest in historical ownership.
Vanessa Cabello (via Zoom), District 4, stated that she worked at the Getty Conservation Institute and strongly supports historical preservation; disagreed with the assessment that the City’s current program is effective; stated that voluntary programs fail to provide
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meaningful protection at demolition or under redevelopment pressure and Redondo Beach needs more teeth legally; stated that the City can’t let redevelopers shape the City’s history and the City needs a strong, enforceable preservation ordinance, not voluntary; offered to serve on any committee to help make it happen and ensure the homes are protected for future generations; suggested that a non-profit be created such as Friends of Redondo Historic Preservation and raise funds for preservation projects; suggested the City partner with other non-profits, update the survey, create a referral list; offered to take care of creating a referral list and establishing a network of current landmark owner groups to share resources.
Analyst Villa reported no other hands raised and one eComment in support.
Councilmember Obagi voiced opposition to spending $175,000 plus on a survey and agreed with Councilmember Waller’s suggestion to increase the awareness so people can voluntarily enroll their properties as a landmark; suggested they put on the City’s website a page that allows people to submit a suggestion of a historic property in Redondo Beach, they type in the address, the address comes to the City, and the City sends out a form letter to the property owner that details out the benefits of enrolling their home in a historic landmark; noted that would cost about $22,000 in postage if it was sent to the 28,500 households in Redondo Beach; stated they don’t go through with a new registry until they have more in their coffers and, rather than making them designated as landmarks, they make it as a rebuttable presumption of a landmark; voiced concern with situations where a family inherits a property and then they have to deal with restrictions on what they can do with the property if their parents didn’t register it as a historic landmark; asked the City Manager his thoughts on increasing awareness by creating a registry and how they can enhance the City’s landmark designation ordinance but keeping it voluntary.
City Manager Witzansky stated it is worth the City exploring how to assess the current inventory, better understand it without forcing an expansion of the opt-in requirements; stated the reason for the recommendation wasn’t to erode the teeth that are currently in the City’s ordinance but to really call out its true validity under the law; noted that the problem is the inconsistency and if pushed or tested on them the City wouldn’t have much of a basis to stand on; stated they want clarity in their process and suggested Council allow staff to research some data gathering options or outreach options that they might have and come back with estimates on cost and ideas on outreach; stated what the Council needs to grapple with is does the City want to stay in the voluntary lane and clean up their documentation associated with that process or does the City want to be more aggressive and if so, that will need to be followed with specific iterative actions that will cost time and money; stated he doesn’t want to tell the Mayor and Council whether they have had a net increase or decrease because an assessment of the A and B list hasn’t been done; suggested they do an interim measure before doing a full historic resource update that requires an opt-in outcome.
Mayor Light voiced his concern with the recommendation that Councilmember Obagi made regarding looking at cities such as Pasadena because they are not voluntary, they
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have a mandatory component; agreed they should look at other cities rather than write it off.
Councilmember Obagi clarified that they borrow regulations to the extent that other cities regulate landmarks or designate properties for those that have self-designation.
Mayor Light voiced opposition to having a Citywide submission for possible historic designation or landmark because staff would need to qualify all of them and it would be time consuming.
Councilmember Obagi and City Manager Witzansky stated to let staff evaluate it and come back to Council with some information.
Mayor Light stated that he would like the PAC to review it.
City Manager Witzansky reported that the PAC has a subcommittee for it and that is part of their follow-up work effort.
Community Development Director Wiener wanted to note that the Potential Historic Resource List would not be eliminated, it will still exist in the record and will be referenced in the code; stated that staff could massage the language to reference to evaluating and seeking for the owner to nominate for landmark but not necessarily to the treatment of the property; stated he is excited about the outreach the subcommittee and himself have been discussing and hoped they would be able to roll some of it out over the next year; spoke about the focused effort of mailing property owners that are currently on the A and B list, and additional ones they have found, making them aware of the Mills Act and felt it would significantly increase the interest.
Mayor Light noted that Community Development Director Wiener was also in Carmel and Laguna Beach and asked about their preservation.
Community Development Director Wiener reported that Carmel was not voluntary, it was city designation; noted that there were a lot of outraged property owners and several were removed; stated that it was a very involved process that involved findings to be well documented and historic professionals to do a write up; reported that Laguna Beach had a similar situation to Redondo Beach where they had an outdated inventory list and they had inconsistencies which brought backlash; stated he helped the city adopt an ordinance that made it more of a voluntary program but reported that it still remains contentious to this day.
Mayor Light asked if Director Wiener knew what Monrovia and Pasadena have in place.
Community Development Director Wiener stated he doesn’t know specifically but from his understanding it is a mandatory program, they have historic districts; noted that, in terms of program standards, Redondo Beach is consistent with other cities and they all apply the Secretary standards, they have historic commissions that review the projects,
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and they have professionals that review it for compliance; stated what differs from other cities is the designation of the property and how that is decided, voluntary or mandatory; stated that the Secretary standards are guidelines and the local jurisdiction interprets those how they choose and some apply it more rigorously and others are more lenient.
Motion by Councilmember Behrendt to continue with the voluntary program, to empower the Director to engage in a more rigorous outreach and education including consideration of a web page for people to get more information and use that as a resource, receive and file the report, and do the cleanup in the ordinance as needed.
Mayor Light asked if he could add to send it to the PAC for their recommendations.
Councilmember Behrendt stated he wanted the PAC to work with Director Wiener on that outreach.
Councilmember Obagi stated he would second the motion but asked Mayor Light what he wanted to see from the PAC.
Mayor Light stated they received the Planning Commission’s recommendations and wanted to hear from the people who administer the program for their recommendations.
More discussion ensured that if they add the direction to receive the PAC’s recommendation then they would have to bring it back to reconsider based on their input.
Councilmember Kaluderovic offered a friendly amendment to include the subcommittee and volunteers that want to take the lead in the suggestions they made earlier that evening.
Community Development Director Wiener stated he would report back to the City Council on the progress of that subcommittee and the programs.
City Attorney Ford asked if the referral would include any amendments to the Mills Act as previously mentioned.
Discussion followed on the suggestions Ron Maroko referred to staff regarding the historic district.
Community Development Director Wiener stated staff has received direction from Council to make code amendments and they could address the Mills Act requirement in the ordinance and have something that encourages and incentivizes districts.
Councilmembers Behrendt and Obagi agreed to the amended motion.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
Motion by Councilmember Behrendt, seconded by Councilmember Obagi, to take a five-
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minute break at 9:40 p.m.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
RECONVENE TO REGULAR MEETING FROM RECESS – 9:51 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Councilmembers Present: Waller, Castle, Kaluderovic, Obagi, Behrendt, Mayor Light
Councilmembers Absent: None
Officials Present: Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Joy Ford, City Attorney
Melissa Villa, Analyst/Liaison
N.3. RECEIVE AND FILE A REPORT ON TEEN CENTER ACTIVITIES AND
PROGRAMMING
CONTACT: ELIZABETH HAUSE, COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR
Community Services Director Hause introduced Michelle Pinedo, Recreation Manager, and stated they are providing an update on the City’s Teen Center and the programming and activities they have had since its opening; acknowledged Manager Pinedo’s role and hard work in setting up the Teen Center and turned the floor over to Manager Pinedo.
Recreation Manager Pinedo started off the presentation with images of the Teen Center pre-Covid 19, noted that the Teen Center was originally opened in March 1994; spoke about the re-creation of the Youth Commission and how three subcommittees were formed from the group that provided crucial feedback for the Teen Center renovation; stated the Teen Survey Subcommittee developed and promoted the survey and received 214 responses, the Communication Subcommittee initiated the Teen Instagram page and asked City staff to create a Teen webpage on the City website, and the Teen Center & Events Subcommittee provided feedback for types of programs they would like to have; noted that the feedback from the Youth Commission helped provide direction for staff to be able to redesign and renovate the Teen Center; thanked Public Works facilities team for all their help with the demolition of the facility, the renovations, and building the furniture pieces; spoke about the success of the re-opening of the Teen Center on September 25th which had live performances from School of Rock and BCHD Allcove and other community partners in attendance; stated that they had a split days schedule for high school and middle school students based on feedback given from last year’s Youth Commission but realized that it was better to open the facility to all students instead and provided the new hours; summarized the activities that have been successful at the Teen Center; stated they post the weekly schedule of activities on Instagram every Sunday morning and the monthly schedule is posted on the City’s webpage and at the Teen
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Center; gave more details about events that they have hosted and noted that all the activities are free for the teens and come from the budget the City has provided for the department; reported that they are working with the Teen Center Events Subcommittee on recommendations to increase the participation of high school students; reported that the average attendance is between 30 to 35 teens on a regular school day and on nonschool days the average is 50 to 60 teens.
Mayor Light asked if the numbers have gone up since the re-opening.
Recreation Manager Pinedo responded that after the pandemic about 15 to 20 students was the average and sometimes it would be zero; stated that they are hoping through word-of-mouth the numbers will increase and she is working with some connections she has at RUHS to try to have the Teen Center featured in the school newspaper; detailed other programs and activities they are hoping to provide at the Teen Center including Tech Explorers Program, which is a high school volunteer program that offers tech support to seniors at the Veterans’ Senior Center, and free tutoring to middle school students from high school students, as well as collaborations with Friendship Foundation, Beach Cities Allcove, and other City departments for workshops and events; encouraged all parents and teens to follow them at @redondoteens on Instagram and welcomed any feedback from the community.
City Manager Witzansky thanked Elizabeth Hause, Michelle Pinedo, and Kelly Orta for all they did in the rebuilding, relaunching, and development of the Youth Commission and the Teen Center and Teen programming; stated in his 20 year history it is the most impressive facilitation of activities that he has seen.
Mayor Light stated how much he enjoyed the grand opening and thanked everyone involved; asked how many staff members are dedicated to the facility.
Recreation Manager Pinedo stated that they have three part-time staff and try to have at least a minimum of two people there.
Mayor Light asked how they handle staffing during events and who handles the planning and coordination of the events and vets the ideas from the Youth Commission.
Recreation Manager Pinedo explained that they have the rec coordinator who leads the part-time staff and will work out of the Teen Center just for support but that the part-time staff are the ones that interact directly with the teens; stated it is a combination of the parttime PERS position, the rec coordinator, and herself that meet and coordinate the events and programs based off of the Youth Commission and participating teens recommendations.
City Manager Witzansky explained that the PERS position is a 30 hour plus per week position; noted that with the PERS person, two part-timers, a full-time rec coordinator, Michelle Pinedo, and Kelly Orta it is a combined effort to run the programs and facility.
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Mayor Light mentioned the stage that is available in the Teen Center and wondered how they could make that usable.
City Manager Witzansky stated that it would need to be ADA compliant, which would require a lift and some structural ADA improvements to make it eligible.
More discussion followed regarding types of mechanical lifts that could be used, requirements to have dedicated staff to handle the equipment, and that a CIP conversation would need to be had.
Councilmember Obagi stated that parents and residents have really appreciated a safe place for their kids to go; noted that a one-time appropriation was given to get the Teen Center going and asked how much budget will be needed on a recurring basis to keep the level of service and activity up.
Recreation Manager Pinedo reported that a one-time appropriation was given along with a reoccurring appropriation; stated that the one-time appropriation was used to purchase the larger items for the center and the actual activities are funded by the recurring budget.
City Manager Witzansky stated if there is a need for some other supplemental items that might be add value, they will consider that as a potential decision package going forward.
Councilmember Obagi asked if there is any thought to have parent donations for the Teen Center.
City Manager Witzansky spoke about the City’s Teen Center donation account, the tax benefit for donating to the City, the tax write off and noted that they have a federal ID number for it.
More discussion followed.
Motion by Councilmember Obagi, seconded by Councilmember Kaluderovic, to receive and file.
Mayor Light invited public comments.
Analyst Villa reported no hands raised on Zoom and no eComments.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
O. CITY MANAGER ITEMS
City Manager Witzansky stated the community holiday closure has ended and reported they survived the holiday break with minimal flooding and other inclement weather damage; thanked staff for all their efforts during the off hours; noted that Stephen Sprengel was in attendance and is the newly appointed Police Chief; stated they would
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be formally recognizing him publicly as part of the introduction of the January 20th Council meeting; noted that he has already been sworn in by the Clerk but will have a more formal ceremony on the 20th; reported that it will be a heavy Closed Session next week but a lighter Open Session.
P. MAYOR AND COUNCIL ITEMS - None
Q. MAYOR AND COUNCIL REFERRALS TO STAFF
Councilmember Behrendt stated on behalf of himself and Councilmember Kaluderovic along with input from the Mayor, the City Attorney, the City Manager, and the City Clerk’s office they would like to make a referral to staff to agendize for discussion the potential placement on the June 2, 2026 ballot, a proposed charter amendment for residents to consider and weigh in on concerning term limits; noted that the proposed amendment would limit a person from serving more than three full terms as a member of the City Council, currently City Councilmembers are currently limited to two full terms of service; stated they would need to coalesce around an effective date and if they can’t reach a consensus maybe they don’t pursue it; provided some proposed charter language on a slide; reported that the School Board is also considering an almost identical item and they may put it on the ballot; stated they have had outreach with the School District on the topic and it reiterated the importance of their partnership; stated he would send his referral as a Blue Folder item; reviewed the School Board’s proposed charter amendment; stated, if they can’t reach an agreement, the School Board retain the right to do a citizen’s initiative, where they could go out and collect their own votes and do it their way, but he is hoping they will partner with them.
City Manager Witzansky asked if early February would be a good time for the discussion.
Councilmember Behrendt agreed to February 3rd .
Councilmember Kaluderovic seconded the motion.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
Councilmember Waller stated he has a referral to staff and reported speaking to the Mayor, Councilmember Kaluderovic, the City Attorney, and others.
Motion by Councilmember Waller, seconded by Councilmember Obagi, to add to the same discussion as Councilmember Behrendt’s referral, a charter amendment to modify the Mayor’s term of office to six years, but remaining the two terms.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
Motion by Councilmember Kaluderovic, seconded by Councilmember Obagi, to have a discussion to hire Mike Webb as a mediator on behalf of the City for various issues such as School Board or potential legal settlements with other parties.
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Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
Councilmember Kaluderovic requested a BRR for methane monitoring systems for Dominguez Park.
City Manager Witzansky stated as part of the hillside stabilization CIP that the City appropriated funding for was to help address some of the logical requirements so they could address her item in the BRR.
Councilmember Kaluderovic requested a BRR for options available for stage access at the Teen Center.
R. RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION - None
R.1. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL AND LABOR NEGOTIATOR - The Closed Session is authorized by the Government Code Sec. 54957.6.
AGENCY NEGOTIATOR:
Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Diane Strickfaden, Director of Human Resources
EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS:
Redondo Beach Police Officers’ Association
R.2. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERSONNEL MATTER/EVALUATION - The Closed Session is authorized by the attorneyclient privilege, Government Code Section 54957(b).
Title: City Manager
R.3. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION - The Closed Session is authorized by the attorney-client privilege, Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1).
Name of Case:
Labono, Greg v. City of Redondo Beach and Does 1-10, Inclusive Case Number: 25TRCV00715
R.4. CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATOR - The Closed Session is authorized by the Government Code Section 54956.8.
AGENCY NEGOTIATORS:
Mike Witzansky, City Manager
Greg Kapovich, Waterfront & Economic Development Director
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PROPERTY:
239 & 245 N. Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(portions of APN: 7503-029-903)
NEGOTIATING PARTIES:
Allen Sanford, CA Surf Club
UNDER NEGOTIATION:
Lease Status, Price, and Terms
S. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION - None
T. ADJOURNMENT
T.1. ADJOURN IN MEMORY OF ISAAC DEL ROSARIO, FORMER CITY EMPLOYEE (PUBLIC WORKS)
Motion by Councilmember Kaluderovic, seconded by Councilmember Waller, to adjourn the meeting in memory of former Public Works City employee Isaac Del Rosario at 10:22 p.m.
Motion carried 5-0 by voice vote.
The next meeting of the City Council of the City of Redondo Beach will be an Adjourned Regular meeting to be held at 4:30 p.m. (Closed Session) and a Regular meeting to be held at 6:00 p.m. (Open Session) on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, in the Redondo Beach City Hall Council Chamber, 415 Diamond Street, Redondo Beach, California.
All written comments submitted via eComment are included in the record and available for public review on the City website.
Respectfully submitted:
Eleanor Manzano, CMC
City Clerk