Strict Parking for Leased Courts Passed

Worried that county plans to lease outside court space would create a parking morass, Torrance City Council members Tuesday passed strict new parking requirements for any private building converted to courthouse use.

Under the new law, the building must have one parking spot for every 150 square feet of space. The city also retains the right to alter the standard on a site-by-site basis.

One building owner charged that the emergency ordinance, approved unanimously by the council and effective immediately, is a direct attack on his negotiations with the county.

Jerry Conrow, developer of the Park Beyond the Park on Crenshaw Boulevard next to Wilson Park, said he has spent the last few months negotiating a courthouse lease of his 128,000-square-foot office building.

Court administrators acknowledge they plan to sign a lease in the next few weeks either for Conrow’s building or one other--an empty warehouse east of the Civic Center on California Street near Maple Avenue.

Conrow said his building is the only facility in the city that meets the size, structure and power codes required by the county. He also said his building’s 584 parking spaces are enough to suit court needs.

Council members said they are not trying to persecute Conrow. They said the law is intended to avoid duplicating the parking problems that currently plague the Torrance courthouse. The 538 spaces are frequently full, forcing drivers to use other Civic Center parking.

“We have to live with the problem day in and day out here in the Civic Center,” Councilman Bill Applegate said. “We don’t want to inflict the same problems on any other area.”