The Redondo Beach Planning Commission on a 5-0 vote approved an exemption declaration, conditional use permit, planning commission design review and a variance to allow an addition to an existing mausoleum at Pacifica Cemetery (Case No. 2025095).

The expansion is a 1,892-square-foot, cast-in-place concrete addition described by staff as roughly 19 feet wide by 112 feet long and about 16 feet, 3 inches tall. "The new structure will add about 312 casket spaces and 648 niche spaces to the cemetery," Senior Planner Steven Jiang said during the presentation. Staff recommended approval and asked the commission to adopt the findings in the staff report and grant the requested permits and variance subject to the submitted plans.

The variance request sought an exception to the R-1 side-yard setback (5 feet) along the cemetery's eastern boundary, which abuts railway right-of-way rather than another private parcel. Jiang told commissioners enforcing the full setback would shrink the building and eliminate planned niche spaces and create a narrow unused gap between the structure and the property fence. He said the addition is intended to line up with the existing eastern mausoleum façade to avoid creating an "attractive nuisance." The proposal includes granite and stucco finishes and an open-air courtyard of four 15-foot walls to display urns.

Residents who spoke at the public hearing raised safety and construction questions. Julie Young, who said she recused herself earlier because she lives nearby, said she had "no problem with the building going in" but was worried about underground pipelines and future work near the rail corridor. Jiang replied that surveys did not show pipelines under the construction area and that building-permit review will require dig-alert notifications and public-works review. Longtime neighbor Doug Boswell said funerals and visitation are infrequent and that the cemetery is generally a quiet site: "I see a funeral maybe once a month," he said.

Commissioners Boswell and Young recused themselves from item J-1 because of proximity to the site. Chair Wayne Craig called for adoption of Resolution No. 2025-10PC11 to approve the project; the roll-call vote recorded Commissioners Light, Gattis, Conroy, Hazeltine and Chair Craig voting aye. The motion passed and the permits were granted as recommended by staff.

Staff noted the project would use existing circulation and parking on site, would not trigger a traffic study because anticipated visitor increases are not expected to exceed thresholds, and would be subject to standard building-permit conditions and public-works review prior to issuance of permits. The approval grants the conditional, administrative and variance entitlements listed in the staff report and is subject to the plans and conditions attached to Resolution No. 2025-10PC11.

The commission closed the public hearing and moved the item forward to implementation steps in the building-permit process.