The City Council is expected Wednesday to approve a proposed warehouse and distribution center for development in Harbor Gateway despite concerns from residents who argue the project will impact their health and worsen the already congested area.
Prologis, a company specializing in supply-chain and logistics real estate, is seeking to build a one-story, 53-foot tall, 340,298-square-foot warehouse on a combined 15-acre lot, located at 15116-15216 S. Vermont Ave. and 747-861 W. Redondo Beach Blvd.
The project will include a 25,000-square-foot mezzanine and up to 40,000 square feet of office space, 194 parking spaces, 36 dock-high truck loading positions and more parking spaces for up to 71 truck trailers.
The project was approved by the city Planning Commission earlier this year with concessions. The company agreed to reduce the project’s size and decrease the number of parking spaces, among other minor design changes.
The company also agreed to increase the height of a sound and screen wall from 14 feet to 18 feet, and allow murals as a way to beautify the facility.
Additionally, the company agreed to reduce the number of truck trips to the facility between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., as well as limiting the use of its 36 loading docks by 25% — prohibiting use for loading and unloading — for that same time frame.
Some Harbor Gateway residents opposed the project on the grounds that it would harm their health, increase pollution and further congest busy streets.
The City Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee unanimously approved the project last week and denied the appeal opposing it.
In their decision, committee members reduced the sound and screen wall to 14-foot, and no murals would be permitted. Additionally, the company would enter into the city’s mitigation monitoring program, which details measures to mitigate disruptions to the neighborhood.
It also outlines ways the project would be more friendly to the environment including providing electric vehicle charging stations, use of solar power and limiting and reducing idling emissions from transport trucks.
Additionally, the company has offered to make a one-time payment of $1.2 million into a community benefits fund for the immediate vicinity of the project — a measure spearheaded by Councilman Tim McOsker, whose district includes Harbor Gateway. The money is intended to help further mitigate impacts to the community.