CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Cheeky sculpture is unsafe as well as sassy, Rancho Palos Verdes officials say.

BOTTOMS UP: Rancho Palos Verdes officials are fighting a cheeky property owner over his even cheekier sculpture.

At issue is whether Ted Gardner built something that was safe when he sculpted a 39-foot-high woman’s backside along Hawthorne Boulevard, next to an apartment building he owns.

Since the work sits on a steep, roadside slope and is made of chicken wire, lumber and dirt, Gardner needed--but neglected to obtain--city permission for the project, says Bob Benard, the city’s environmental services director.

Gardner disagrees, saying the sculpture is merely “a little mound of dirt” built to give motorists a laugh. The city’s safety concern--that the sculpture could slide off the hill and onto the highway--is “absolutely asinine,” he says.

Thus far, Gardner has not heeded a request by Benard’s staff to report to City Hall with blueprints for the sculpture. Planning officials say that unless he complies, they will turn the matter over to the council, which could seek a court order requiring that the sculpture be torn down.

BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL: The Hermosa Beach City Council has rejected a proposal to open a pool hall in the Hermosa Beach Pavilion after neighbors complained that the hall would be too noisy and attract traffic and unsavory crowds.

Pitching the project to the City Council on Tuesday, supporters argued that the financially strapped Pavilion would profit from the business, which would have featured 17 billiard tables and the sale of alcohol and food. They also tried--unsuccessfully, it turned out--to dampen fears about the hall’s clientele.

“I don’t think of this place as a pool hall with a dim green light hanging down and a bunch of guys in grubbies standing around swearing,” said Wesley Bush, executive director of the city’s Chamber of Commerce. “You could bring a date in there, or your wife or children.”

A majority of council members disagreed. Said Councilman Robert Essertier: “I’m reluctant to interfere with free enterprise, but I don’t think a pool hall, so close to residents, is appropriate for that location.”

TEDDIES TORPEDOED: Since its “Betty Boop” entry won the Governor’s Trophy in January’s Rose Parade, the Rose Float Assn. of Carson figured that it had earned some leeway in deciding what type of float to build for next year’s competition.

But the Carson City Council has turned thumbs down on the volunteer group’s plan--teddy bears riding through the California desert on a stagecoach.

Council members said the float, to be titled “California, Here We Come,” didn’t fit the parade’s “Voyage of Discovery” theme. Said Mayor Pro Tempore Juanita McDonald: “Why the teddy bears? What is the meaning?”

Among the suggested alternatives is a float featuring alligator designs--an allusion to “Papa” the alligator. Papa, a real alligator that has lived at the home of a Carson resident for 24 years, became an unofficial city mascot after authorities learned of his existence and seized him earlier this year.

In March, the city passed a special measure permitting the return of the alligator to its owner, Nelvolia Collins.

TIME TO RETHINK: Molly Sipe, the Redondo Beach preservation commissioner who resigned after her panel’s contentious 5-2 vote last month to create the city’s first historic preservation district, may reconsider and remain on the board, Mayor Brad Parton says.

Parton says he asked Sipe to think things over during the “couple of weeks” it will take to process her resignation, which she handed in after voting against the creation of a historic district on North Gertruda Avenue.

The historic district designation had been sought by a group of local preservationists seeking to prevent a couple in the neighborhood from remodeling their vintage bungalow.

Sipe gave no reason for her resignation but she had sided with the couple, Herman and Jackie Bose, at the Preservation Commission meeting last month.

“I think she’s just very, very uncomfortable (with the commission’s) agreeing with a small, vocal group of people deciding what other people can do with their private property,” Parton said of Sipe. “. . . We had a good talk, and I asked her to reconsider.”

Said Sipe: “I’m taking into consideration what Brad told me. I really don’t know at this time what I’ll do.”

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

* San Pedro: A San Pedro scrap yard failed to persuade a Los Angeles city zoning board that it should not be declared a public nuisance, a designation that could force the business to relocate. In the wake of the decision, Hiuka America Corp. plans to appeal the matter to the Los Angeles City Council. City officials say the scrap yard generates excessive noise, dust and truck traffic.

* Palos Verdes Estates: The City Council unanimously approved the formation of an assessment district to pay for fire services, eliminating the need for parcel taxes. Under the five-year assessment, which does not have to be approved by voters, property owners will pay $150 annually, plus slightly more than 8 1/2 cents for every square foot of dwelling space.

* Redondo Beach: Opponents of Redondo Beach’s exclusive garbage collection contract with Western Waste Industries succeeded in stalling the deal. Petitions calling for a public referendum on the contract were presented to the City Council on Thursday. Signed by 5,600 city residents--and organized by Browning-Ferris Industries, a rival of Western Waste--the petitions have put the contract on hold while the city clerk verifies the signatures. The verified signatures of at least 10% of the city’s registered voters--about 3,200--are required to put the matter on the ballot.

* Torrance: Retired Superior Court Judge Harry Peetris selected Westinghouse Electric Corp. to oversee safety operations at Mobil’s Torrance refinery. The naming of a safety adviser is a key step spelled out in a consent decree addressing plant-safety complaints raised by the city of Torrance. But Westinghouse’s selection disappointed Torrance officials. The city had favored a Northern California consulting firm for the job, while Mobil had recommended Westinghouse.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

* Hermosa Beach: Controversial rush-hour parking ban along Pacific Coast Highway starts Monday.

* Carson: City Council to vote Tuesday on selection of a float for the 1992 Tournament of Roses Parade.

* El Segundo: City Council to vote Tuesday on a contract to study the feasibility of installing a sound barrier along Imperial Highway to reduce noise from Los Angeles International Airport.

* Redondo Beach: City Council to discuss Tuesday several issues affecting tenants in the mooring area of King Harbor. They include a phase-out--through attrition--of the mooring area, purchase of new mooring tackle for recreational vessels, and restrooms and dinghy tie-ups for mooring area tenants.

* Torrance: City Council to choose a consultant Tuesday to develop guidelines for the regulation of certain hazardous chemicals in the city.

* San Pedro: Los Angeles school board member Warren Furutani to meet Wednesday with San Pedro residents opposing plans to remove three dozen city-owned trees damaging sidewalks outside Pt. Fermin and Leland Avenue elementary schools in San Pedro.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

* Carson: 6 p.m. Tuesday, 701 E. Carson St., Carson. Televised at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 26 (Continental Cablevision) and repeated the following Wednesday.

* El Segundo: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 350 Main St., El Segundo. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated at noon Wednesday.

* Inglewood: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. No cable telecast.

* Lawndale: 7 p.m. Thursday, 14717 Burin Ave., Lawndale. Televised live on Channel 60 and repeated several times during the week.

* Lomita: 7 p.m. Monday, 24300 Narbonne Ave., Lomita. No cable telecast.

* Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. Televised live on Channel 35; repeated Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.

* Manhattan Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1400 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach. Televised on Channel 3 (MultiVision) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

* Palos Verdes Estates: 7 a.m. Tuesday (continuation of last week’s meeting), 340 Palos Verdes Drive West, Palos Verdes Estates.

* Rancho Palos Verdes: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Hesse Park, 29201 Hawthorne Blvd., Rancho Palos Verdes. Televised live on Channel 3; repeated at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

* Redondo Beach: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 415 Diamond St., Redondo Beach. Televised live on Channel 8 (Century); repeated at 3 p.m. Wednesday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

* Torrance: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon), and replayed at 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.