El Camino Expected to Kill Plan to Lease Parking Lot for Stores

A controversial plan to turn an El Camino College parking lot into a shopping center probably will be set aside at the next Board of Trustees meeting, administrators say.

After several months of review, college President Sam Schauerman said he concluded that administrators do not yet know enough about El Camino’s future needs to commit the land to the 50-year lease suggested by developers.

“That’s a long time to let your land be leased when you’re not too sure what’s going to happen to enrollment,” Schauerman said.

Neighboring residents had complained that developing the 1,100-space lot at Crenshaw and Redondo Beach boulevards would force more students to park off-campus. They argued that students would not use proposed new on-campus parking structures because of safety concerns.

Administrators first presented the idea to the board in July, after a developer indicated that such a development would produce enough revenue to pay for twice as much replacement parking on campus.

In August, the board asked local development companies for proposals about what could be done with the 14-acre site. Three developers submitted bids.

Trustees are scheduled to consider the three development proposals at their Nov. 27 meeting. Schauerman and Donald Sorsabal, El Camino’s vice president for administrative services, said they will advise the board to set aside all of the proposals. Trustees could revive the idea at a later time, Sorsabal noted.