Torrance Bans New Housing on Property Near Old Downtown

Worried that apartment construction is ruining single-family neighborhoods, the Torrance City Council has imposed a 60-day moratorium on multi-unit buildings in an area near the old downtown and put new limits on the size of apartments throughout the city.

Both actions were taken as emergency measures and took effect immediately, provoking outcries at a five-hour council meeting Tuesday from real estate representatives and homeowners wanting to build on their property.

“You will do me in,” said Ed Carroll, who wants to add rental units behind his house at 25203 Western Ave. Tony Kriss, a director of the Torrance-Lomita-Carson Board of Realtors, said any restrictions on residential development would ultimately lead to increased levies on industrial and commercial development to pay for city services, which would reduce the city’s attractiveness to investors.

Some Favor Curb

But those in favor of neighborhood preservation were equally vehement.

“Who is for the little guy who bought his home and just wants to live in peace and quiet?” said Pat Hornback, who lives at 2416 Andreo Ave. in the moratorium area. “Money! Money! Money! Building in Torrance has to stop someplace.”

Responding to objections that a moratorium would ruin the city’s image as tough but fair with developers, Councilman George Nakano said a review of city records showed that moratoriums had been imposed for various reasons on 70 occasions between 1962 and 1975. The city was unable to determine how many dealt with land use.

Like similar disputes in Hawthorne, Lawndale and elsewhere in the South Bay, the controversy focuses on older neighborhoods zoned for multi-unit dwellings but largely built up with single-family residences. In Torrance, the city staff estimates that about 200 acres in scattered areas are developed to less than the zoned capacity and that building to the maximum would add about 1,800 units to the city’s housing stock.

Low interest rates and high demand for rental housing have encouraged “recycling” of the land into apartments, city officials said.

Traffic Problems

To buttress the claim that an emergency ordinance is warranted, council members said that construction is causing traffic and parking problems and is straining water and sewer lines in some areas.

The moratorium on new construction--opposed only by Councilman William Applegate--affects a small neighborhood near the old downtown bounded by Cabrillo Avenue, Plaza Del Amo, Lincoln Avenue and Arlington Avenue. Many of the lots there have a frontage of 45 feet or less and zoning and existing development create the potential for a dramatic change in the neighborhood.

Forty-six of the 65 lots zoned for multifamily use contain single-family residences and 11 have two units. Only three lots have been developed to their full zoning potential, including a nine-unit apartment built in 1965. The remaining five lots have more than two units but are not developed to the maximum allowed.

Forty-five of the lots are owned by the people who live there.

City planning officials say that the narrow lots make high-density development inappropriate and that the high owner-occupancy shows the existence of a stable neighborhood worth preserving.

New Zoning

During the 60 days that the moratorium is in effect, the city will creat a new zoning classification, dubbed the R-3-3 zone, in a process that requires hearings before the Planning Commission. The main new restriction in the proposed zone would be a cap of no more than three dwelling units on any of the 65 lots zoned for multi-unit construction. Currently, allowable density is one unit for each 1,600 square feet of lot area.

The other changes approved this week affect every other R-3 lot in the city--at least temporarily. The council directed staff to return in 60 days with proposed amendments so the new limits would affect only smaller lots.

R-3, a zoning classification for high-density development, covers 673 acres in Torrance.

The new limits do not change the density restrictions in the R-3 zone, which require at least 1,600 square feet of lot area for each apartment.

Floor Space Limited

The main change is a requirement that the total floor space of apartments be no more than half the lot area. On an acre lot, which has a maximum density of 27 units, the requirement would restrict average apartment size to at most 806 square feet.

The restriction is needed, planning officials said, because under the previous rules, builders--restricted in the number of units they could put on small lots--were boosting the value of a building by constructing apartments with many rooms and considerable floor space. The result was a series of boxy buildings that neighbors in nearby single-family homes complained were dominating the surroundings.

A 1985 city survey documenting this phenomenon showed the average floor space for recently constructed two-unit apartment buildings was between 2,200 and 2,400 square feet per unit.

Other changes in the R-3 zone affect calculations for open space and parking requirements.

Open-Space Requirement

Open space was formerly required to be at least 600 square feet for each apartment. Under the new ordinance, open space must be at least half of the area of an apartment.

Parking requirements under the old ordinance were two spaces per unit with one guest space for every 10 units. Under the new rules, a studio apartment must have 1 1/2 spaces, a one- or two-bedroom apartment must have two spaces, an apartment with three or more bedrooms must have three spaces. Apartment buildings must have one guest parking space for every five units.

In one possibility under discussion, the new limits would affect only lots less than 10,000 square feet in area. Planning officials said they do not know how many R-3 lots have areas less than 10,000 square feet or where they are situated.

In the meantime, the limits apply throughout the city, which Applegate labeled a “moratorium even if you don’t call it a moratorium.” Applegate and Dan Walker were the only council members to vote against the R-3 limits.