Redondo Beach council debates raising FAR, easing parking and allowing mixed use to revive Artesia-Aviation corridor

Redondo Beach city staff laid out policy options for revitalizing the Artesia‑Aviation corridor, telling the City Council that increasing the allowed floor‑area ratio (FAR) and removing some on‑site parking requirements are central levers to encourage redevelopment.

City staff and the council said the corridor’s small parcel sizes and current parking and open‑space rules have discouraged investment. Community Development Director Mark Weiner told the council that small lots can’t practically accommodate the parking that would be required under a 1.5 FAR without expensive solutions — “you would need to go three levels deep with a parking structure,” he said, and estimated a garage could exceed $10,000,000 for an illustrative corner lot. Weiner presented study examples showing how a 6,500‑square‑foot lot at current code yields a small two‑story building and that higher FARs quickly create parking deficits unless alternative parking strategies are used.

The staff presentation recommended a menu of changes: raising the FAR from the current 0.6 toward 1.5 (an amount covered by the environmental impact report the council certified last year), permitting three stories (roughly 36–45 feet depending on final story heights), eliminating the 10% on‑site open‑space requirement for these small…