Council directs status quo split for three school‑district properties in general‑plan update

The City Council provided direction on land‑use designations for three Redondo Beach Unified School District properties as part of its general‑plan update, deciding to replace a single public (P) designation with a mix of public‑institutional (PI) and open‑space (OS) designations in different configurations.

Planning manager Sean Scully summarized options for Alta Vista, the former Franklin School (Friendship Campus), and the Lincoln Elementary/Anderson Park site and explained staff and planning commission recommendations to designate school facilities PI and surrounding fields or parks OS. The core question for councilors was how to reflect public access, fenced school‑use areas, and future classroom or non‑classroom development by the district.

Council discussion centered on consistency and public expectations. Some members favored following fence lines and existing public access (keeping fenced, school‑used areas as PI while designating city‑owned park parcels OS). Others argued that designating more OS would better protect green space and not limit the school district’s ability to build educational facilities, which remain governed by state rules.

The council voted to approve staff’s recommendation (the version that follows the fence line) for Alta Vista and Franklin. For the Anderson/Lincoln site, members adopted a substitute motion to apply a straight‑line split (the 2024 staff recommendation aligning PI to the southern portion and OS to the park area) by a 3–2 vote. Staff confirmed the open‑space element and park acreage calculations will be adjusted to reflect the council direction before the general‑plan adoption package returns to council.

What’s next: Staff will reconcile the land‑use map and open‑space calculations to reflect the council’s direction and will include the changes in the updated draft land‑use and open‑space elements for further review and eventual adoption.