The El Segundo Planning Commission voted to approve Environmental Assessment EA1402 and Subdivision SUB25-03 to create tentative parcel map 84876, splitting an undeveloped 278,348-square-foot property at 2021–2031 Rosecrans Avenue into two legal lots. Staff recommended conditional approval and noted a typographical correction to condition 11 (it should read “final parcel map” rather than “tentative parcel map”).

The project site is in the city’s MUS (Mixed Use South) zone, and “measures 278,348 square feet,” said Jasmine, a city planner presenting the staff report. The subdivision request does not propose new development; staff said no changes are proposed to a previously approved site plan for the eastern portion of the lot. That earlier approval (site plan review in February 2023) authorized a seven-story office building and a five-level parking structure for the east side of the property. Development remains subject to the 2019 environmental impact report and development agreement (No. 5751) adopted by the City Council, staff said.

Staff told commissioners the proposed subdivision would create two parcels that both meet the MUS zone standards for lot size, depth and width, and that the subdivision would not increase the site’s allowed development intensity beyond what had already been assessed. Staff identified that covenants, conditions and restrictions would be required to govern maintenance across the two lots. The planning staff also concluded the subdivision is exempt from CEQA under a Class 15 minor land divisions exemption because it creates fewer than four parcels, the site slope is less than 20 percent and the parcel has not been divided within the past two years.

Bob Tarnovski, identified as the real estate president for Continental Development, told the commission the subdivision “gives us the flexibility for financing and kind of maneuvering to best adapt to the market conditions we find ourselves in right now.” He said the developer had originally envisioned roughly 300,000 square feet of Class A office on the site but that market changes after 2020 made that plan “no longer viable.” Tarnovski said the property currently carries no debt.

Commissioners asked staff clarifying questions about how subdivision findings are written in state and local code (staff explained the subdivision findings are framed in a way that can appear reversed compared with other entitlement findings), whether the development concept approved in 2019 still governs future development, and whether subdividing would allow the applicant more flexibility in future phasing. Staff replied that any future development on the vacant parcel would require separate site plan review and other discretionary approvals and that cumulatively the two lots cannot exceed the development intensity and impacts previously approved and assessed.

A motion to approve the resolution (Resolution No. 2971) conditionally approving EA1402 and SUB25-03 with the recommended edit to condition 11 carried. The roll-call vote recorded four votes in favor and one abstention; the abstention was recorded for Commissioner McCafferty. No speaker recorded a dissenting vote.

The approval does not authorize new construction beyond existing approvals; it allows the legal division of the property into two parcels that meet current zoning standards and remain bound to the 2019 EIR and development agreement. Any future building proposals on the undeveloped parcel must return to the city for site plan review and applicable environmental and entitlement review.

Votes at a glance
- Environmental Assessment EA1402 and Subdivision SUB25-03 (Tentative Parcel Map 84876) — Motion to approve with edit to condition 11 (final parcel map instead of tentative parcel map). Outcome: approved. Vote: 4 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain (Commissioner McCafferty).