79-Lot Development Approved

The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council has given approval for the construction of a 79-lot development on 132 acres overlooking the ocean at Palos Verdes Drive South and Hawthorne Boulevard.

The HMDI Inc. project met with little resistance from environmentalists because, council members said, the proposed development is “environmentally sensitive.”

Among other things, HMDI will preserve a small wetlands habitat in the northeast corner of the site and maintain a four-acre area identified as home to a pair of California gnatcatchers, a species of bird native to the state, which has been threatened because of development.

Pedestrian and wildlife trails will be included in the development, and views from Palos Verdes Drive South will be preserved. Fifty-four percent of the development will remain as open space.

A road, which is proposed to run along the bluffs to provide public access to the coastline, inspired the most controversy on the council. Councilman Robert Ryan cast the single vote against the project because of his opposition to the road.

“What kind of a coastal experience can you have with cars ripping by?” he asked. “The coastline is for the people, not automobiles.”

City staff asked HMDI to include the road in its development plans because the city’s Coastal Specific Plan requires it, said Carolynn Petru, acting director of environmental services.