Residents press city over slow progress on El Porto undergrounding; staff outlines steps to speed conversions

Manhattan Beach staff laid out progress and remaining hurdles on Oct. 21 for Underground Utility Assessment Districts (UAD) 12 and 14 — the El Porto neighborhoods where residents voted assessments in 2019 to move utilities underground.

Acting City Engineer Gil Gamboa told the council there are 471 parcels in the two districts. To date 220 properties have completed private conversions to underground service (about 47%). Another 72 properties have passed city inspection and are released to Southern California Edison for utility inspection; 109 properties have not yet been released for Edison inspection. Gamboa said Frontier and Spectrum conduit issues and a set of private‑property defects continue to block a complete cutover in some locations.

Gamboa and Interim Public Works Director Ted San said the city has increased field oversight, instituted weekly site walks with contractors, and is coordinating bi‑weekly meetings with Edison to accelerate releases. They reported an internal tracking map is public on the project web page and said staff aims to complete private conversions and allow cutovers by May 2026, with pole removals and new streetlight installations to follow in late 2026 into 2027.

Residents who paid assessments in 2019 told council they remain frustrated. Benedict O’Brien and others said the project has taken far longer than the two‑ to three‑year timeframe they were told at assessment, that some private service work was done incorrectly, and that overhead lines remain in poor repair and have come down on multiple occasions, creating safety hazards and repeated calls to emergency services.

Several speakers urged that the city use all available levers to accelerate work: waive permit‑extension or reactivation fees that prevent scheduling inspections; increase transparency and contractor accountability; and coordinate more aggressively with utility companies to schedule Edison activations and portal inspections. Staff said the fee‑waiver option would require council direction and offered to return with a narrowly scoped fee waiver proposal for council consideration. They also confirmed the resident contact channel (email: uuad@manhattanbeach.gov and engineering phone numbers) for status questions.

Southern California Edison representatives on the call said Edison will continue to maintain overhead facilities until they are no longer needed and that customers with immediate safety concerns should contact Edison’s trouble line; Edison staff said they have increased coordination with the city and are scheduling inspections as properties are released.

Council asked staff to return with options to speed releases, including a report on potential fee waivers to reinstate expired permits and other administrative steps to avoid technical holds on inspections.