Why isn’t the City working with those of us impacted by this huge project? Mr. Massey came to your HOA, didn’t answer any questions, and just said we plan on building this next year. Told us to send any questions in writing to the City. We did. No answers. Ms. Morris said we’ll answer them at the meeting on the greenbelt, well that didn’t happen. Then at the community meeting they were joking about our 144 questions. It’s a joke and no one in charge has answered our questions in writing or answered on video for everyone to see. The City is ignoring us and our concerns, it’s like they have something to hide. The City is treating us like we don’t matter, we’re an after thought that they can ignore. Real serious problems were found about liquefaction, soil settlement damages, high water tables, water damaging basements and underground parking. The City is not authorizing or paying for any studies about harm to homeowners and they are not acting in the best interest of the homeowners and citizens who live near the project. We need an EIR to look at all the problems and issues with this project. Respectfully, Maritza Alvarado
At the very least the city council members owe it to their residents to have this $million design by "Tetra Tech" reviewed by staff who are qualified and licensed engineering personnel with experience in the design/construction/maintenance of underground retention chambers? https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Contractor-Submitted-False-Radiation-Data-at-Hunters-Point-279025911.html
Dear Members of City Council and our Hermosa Beach Neighbors,
In September 2004, Los Angeles County commenced what was supposed to have been a two-month project which morphed into a five-month excavation for a storm water filtration system directly in front of our property at Beachside HOA. Not unlike the Hermosa Beach Greenbelt Infiltration Project, Beachside homeowners received only one notice of the project and that was after the public comment period. This past project, Project #1105- Low Flow Diversion on Herondo Street---known to us as the Herondo Street Flow Diversion Project (HSFDP)---involved extensive digging and pile-driving activities which shook the Beachside structure and grounds on a continuous basis throughout the course of the project. Despite protests from the HOA, the project continued to completion. The HOA complained to the City of Hermosa Beach, the City of Redondo Beach, and the L.A. County Dept. of Public Works. Because of damage sustained during the HSFDP, Beachside HOA was forced into litigation.
.
During the 1984 Northridge Earthquake, Beachside suffered cosmetic damage and was required to undergo a full structural review by our insurance carrier at the time. Thankfully, our structure passed with flying colors. (For those who don’t recall, Northridge was so massive that it caused the access roads at King’s Harbor to crack and sink in certain places.) Despite the integrity of our building structure, the daily vibrations from the HSFDP caused a myriad of problems leading the HOA to execute repairs to the elevator, pool, water lines, roof, exterior stucco, sidewalks & driveway aprons, and interior drywall. It shifted doorways to the point where they would no longer close. The cosmetic damage generated by the HSFDP was actually worse than that sustained during the Northridge quake.
Beachside HOA was forced to hire multiple engineers over the course of the next five years to determine the extent of the damage and whether it was long term. We accrued litigation-related expenses in excess of $300,000.
The lack of public notice and then misleading photographs of the site regarding the Greenbelt Infiltration Project is very alarming and reminds us of our experiences with the HSFDP. The fact that a few concerned South Hermosa citizens had to raise the alarm and attract the attention of City officials is ridiculous. Several of our neighbors have put more time into the research of this Project than the City has in ten years. Our professional neighbors have systematically laid out formal arguments against the Infiltration Project. For the City to now proceed with this Project is a gross dereliction of their duty to perform due diligence before embarking on agreements/projects with other neighboring cities that adversely impact any Hermosa neighborhood.
This situation is also reminiscent of the recent changes made to Herondo Street by the City of Redondo Beach, changes that now greatly affect the flow of traffic in and out of Hermosa/Redondo. Some days Herondo Street literally looks like a one-lane parking lot. Why did the Hermosa City Council acquiesce to the demands of Redondo Beach then, and obviously, now? Redondo Beach is much better equipped to handle the new water infiltration issue before us, not to mention the fact that over 50% of the water to be treated is coming from their commercial areas.
Along with the two years-plus of daily construction noise, vibration, and filth, the massive Greenbelt location of the Infiltration Project will result in a complete road closure of Valley Drive, as well as lane closures on Second and Herondo Streets. It will effectively eat up a valued portion of our neighborhood parking in an area already burdened by out-of-area beach parking; and traffic, already slowed by the single-lane Herondo Street, will become an even bigger safety issue. The daily noise, heavy equipment and pounding vibrations, along with particulate air pollution will impact both homeowners and renters alike…and we are talking two years of this. If the final timeline for completion is set at two years, then we can actually count on up to four years of disruption to our daily lives.
In conclusion, over $200 million worth of private property will be adversely affected by the Greenbelt Infiltration Project in its currently proposed location. This begs the question, is the City of Hermosa Beach prepared to pay for the potential damage to personal property affected both during and after completion of this Project?
We strongly encourage the Hermosa Beach City Council to re-join the conversation with Redondo and Torrance and get this project moved. City Council has an opportunity to truly represent Hermosa Beach by declining this massive Project and moving it to Redondo Beach where it belongs.
Best regards,
Barbara Sabo, Beachside HOA Secretary FY 2018-19
I oppose the greenbelt location. It is too close to the underground apartment and condo garages. The water table is too high for this location. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen and gross negligence on the part of Hermosa Beach officials. Sharon Arey
Although I do not oppose the overall concept of using infiltration to help keep initial rain runoff from entering the ocean,
I strongly oppose this location due to several reasons including:
1. No proper Environmental Impact Review (EIR) was performed. EIRs are performed for much smaller and less controversial projects. We don't know if this will triggering or accelerating geologic processes
2. Not enough information is available to provide confidence of the effectiveness of the technology at this location. No information is available on the long term maintenance plan for this project.
3. This location is at or near areas that are designated liquefaction zones
4. A smarter solution would be to partner with the Redondo shores redevelopment plans for the power plant. There's even a designated salt marsh area there. A short delay to coincide with this plan would be a better combination.
5. Other locations are available and could be more suitable and effective - including the beach - similar to the Hermosa Strand Infiltration Trench
6. The initial storm water could contain hazardous materials especially if it is collected from the light industry area of Torrance. These hazardous materials can create health issues in the neighborhood.
7. Knowing all of this, the City could be negligent and vulnerable to lawsuits from homeowners that suffer damages from construction and health hazards.
Comment from unit 46 will be presented byJohn Lauba and Danielle Battut June 19
We need common sense to put the Herondo Storm Drain underground filtration project where there is minimal impact on residences and buildings.
The proposed Green Belt area between Herondo St and 2nd Street is highly residential, has liquefaction danger and we are learning that its ground water table may be too high for this infiltration project.
Looking at an aerial view one can easily see that the water drainage pipes that run along 190th/Herondo Street and end into the ocean by the Charthouse, can be easily directed to a site south of Herondo where there are no buildings or vegetation. The attached map shows empty land with no liquefaction danger and no modification of landscape. Efforts labeled “administratively impossible” (Easy Reader article April 6, 2018) in relocating this project to empty SCE land have to be looked into. This way we retain full use of the public Greenbelt area during the project with little or no impact on Hermosa Beach residents during construction.
Thank you for listening; we look forward to our Hermosa City Council to support its voting citizens in providing a good solution.
Let’s do something good for the ocean; but DO NOT forget the people.
Knowingly devaluing property and quality of life, damaging health, the long term stability of property and the immediate environment, refusing to cooperate, communicate, include or negotiate with the tax paying residents, this project and the way it is being handled is an astonishing disregard for the quality of life for Hermosa Beach residents. Without question, the city is not acting in the best interest of the homeowners and citizens who live near the project. We beg of you to reconsider the location and approach this important environmental move with a more appropriate solve. The greenbelt, a dedicated and claimed public nature walkway, nestled amongst residential buildings is not it.
The negative impacts of building the proposed stormwater infiltration project on the Greenbelt are significant, unmitigateable and growing. It is time for the City Council to step up and take control of this project. We respectfully urge the City Council to stop the design of the Greenbelt Infiltration Project and instruct staff to relocate the project to one of the other more appropriate options ( The Beach, Herondo St. Lot, or one of the original options). If Council rejects these arguments for relocation off of the Greenbelt, then please at a minimum, order a site specific Environmental Impact Report (to give us a modicum of peace of mind). An EIR is required here because you simply do not know what you don’t know. The identified risks are real and we deserve an unbiased study of what is being imposed on hundreds of homeowners against their wishes and reasonable expectations.
These are strange times. We look to our homes as a refuge, literally a safe and quiet place to live. You are imposing in a residential area, 2 years of heavy equipment construction to build an industrial sized project and you are removing of dozens of mature trees and landscape to be replaced by dune scrub. When done, 2 million gallons of polluted water will be routinely flushed into the Greenbelt, a Greenbelt subject to soil subsidence, liquefaction and potential flooding and water damage to surrounding homes due to the high water table. There will be permanent smells and ongoing noise from the 2 football field sized stormwater processing plant you are building. Our property values will plummet. All for what? A weighing of the costs vs benefits shows that those of us living on and near the Greenbelt to be the clear hands down losers as we are bearing all of the costs and receiving none of the benefits (congrats to winners Redondo and Torrance for using us as their dumping ground and to the City profitting appx. $350K to manage this travesty)
What gives you the right to impose this on hundreds of Hermosa Beach residents against their wishes? I guess your City Council position gives you the power to do it, but you should be darn sure that you’re doing the right thing, the best thing and be willing to guarantee that you are not making things worse by endangering us, our homes and property values. Short of that, by refusing to move the project or in the alternative order a site specific EIR, you have failed us.
I live directly across the street from the proposed construction. My Mother ( 95 years old) and her husband(90 years old) also live with me. The disruption to their quality of life with ongoing construction for 2 years is totally unacceptable. The likely hood of fumes and odors from the project will certainly endanger their health. I seriously doubt any council member is opting to have this project g in their front yards. This is a project that should be done in a commercial area, not a residential neighborhood.
It makes no sense to tear down that part of the greenbelt and replace it with a water storage facility that I will see from my front room. I speak from 40 years of experience in selling homes in the Beach Cities. Putting that facility in that location will cost all homeowners who live along the green belt hundreds of thousands of dollars in the value of their homes. The concept is beyond reckless.
In addition to the unsightly facility, loss of trees and the loss of home values; I am also very concerned about that much water being diverted and any chemicals and or odors that will arise from the project. I lived in North Manhattan Beach for many years and these types of plants are not odorless.
We just had to fight an Oil drilling issue that planned to run pipes in the same area and now our own City Council is planning to destroy the value of our homes as well as the air we breathe.
Shame on every one of you for even considering doing this in a residential area.
The attached letters detail my strong opposition
Why isn’t the City working with those of us impacted by this huge project? Mr. Massey came to your HOA, didn’t answer any questions, and just said we plan on building this next year. Told us to send any questions in writing to the City. We did. No answers. Ms. Morris said we’ll answer them at the meeting on the greenbelt, well that didn’t happen. Then at the community meeting they were joking about our 144 questions. It’s a joke and no one in charge has answered our questions in writing or answered on video for everyone to see. The City is ignoring us and our concerns, it’s like they have something to hide. The City is treating us like we don’t matter, we’re an after thought that they can ignore. Real serious problems were found about liquefaction, soil settlement damages, high water tables, water damaging basements and underground parking. The City is not authorizing or paying for any studies about harm to homeowners and they are not acting in the best interest of the homeowners and citizens who live near the project. We need an EIR to look at all the problems and issues with this project. Respectfully, Maritza Alvarado
At the very least the city council members owe it to their residents to have this $million design by "Tetra Tech" reviewed by staff who are qualified and licensed engineering personnel with experience in the design/construction/maintenance of underground retention chambers? https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Contractor-Submitted-False-Radiation-Data-at-Hunters-Point-279025911.html
Test comment.
Dear Members of City Council and our Hermosa Beach Neighbors,
In September 2004, Los Angeles County commenced what was supposed to have been a two-month project which morphed into a five-month excavation for a storm water filtration system directly in front of our property at Beachside HOA. Not unlike the Hermosa Beach Greenbelt Infiltration Project, Beachside homeowners received only one notice of the project and that was after the public comment period. This past project, Project #1105- Low Flow Diversion on Herondo Street---known to us as the Herondo Street Flow Diversion Project (HSFDP)---involved extensive digging and pile-driving activities which shook the Beachside structure and grounds on a continuous basis throughout the course of the project. Despite protests from the HOA, the project continued to completion. The HOA complained to the City of Hermosa Beach, the City of Redondo Beach, and the L.A. County Dept. of Public Works. Because of damage sustained during the HSFDP, Beachside HOA was forced into litigation.
.
During the 1984 Northridge Earthquake, Beachside suffered cosmetic damage and was required to undergo a full structural review by our insurance carrier at the time. Thankfully, our structure passed with flying colors. (For those who don’t recall, Northridge was so massive that it caused the access roads at King’s Harbor to crack and sink in certain places.) Despite the integrity of our building structure, the daily vibrations from the HSFDP caused a myriad of problems leading the HOA to execute repairs to the elevator, pool, water lines, roof, exterior stucco, sidewalks & driveway aprons, and interior drywall. It shifted doorways to the point where they would no longer close. The cosmetic damage generated by the HSFDP was actually worse than that sustained during the Northridge quake.
Beachside HOA was forced to hire multiple engineers over the course of the next five years to determine the extent of the damage and whether it was long term. We accrued litigation-related expenses in excess of $300,000.
The lack of public notice and then misleading photographs of the site regarding the Greenbelt Infiltration Project is very alarming and reminds us of our experiences with the HSFDP. The fact that a few concerned South Hermosa citizens had to raise the alarm and attract the attention of City officials is ridiculous. Several of our neighbors have put more time into the research of this Project than the City has in ten years. Our professional neighbors have systematically laid out formal arguments against the Infiltration Project. For the City to now proceed with this Project is a gross dereliction of their duty to perform due diligence before embarking on agreements/projects with other neighboring cities that adversely impact any Hermosa neighborhood.
This situation is also reminiscent of the recent changes made to Herondo Street by the City of Redondo Beach, changes that now greatly affect the flow of traffic in and out of Hermosa/Redondo. Some days Herondo Street literally looks like a one-lane parking lot. Why did the Hermosa City Council acquiesce to the demands of Redondo Beach then, and obviously, now? Redondo Beach is much better equipped to handle the new water infiltration issue before us, not to mention the fact that over 50% of the water to be treated is coming from their commercial areas.
Along with the two years-plus of daily construction noise, vibration, and filth, the massive Greenbelt location of the Infiltration Project will result in a complete road closure of Valley Drive, as well as lane closures on Second and Herondo Streets. It will effectively eat up a valued portion of our neighborhood parking in an area already burdened by out-of-area beach parking; and traffic, already slowed by the single-lane Herondo Street, will become an even bigger safety issue. The daily noise, heavy equipment and pounding vibrations, along with particulate air pollution will impact both homeowners and renters alike…and we are talking two years of this. If the final timeline for completion is set at two years, then we can actually count on up to four years of disruption to our daily lives.
In conclusion, over $200 million worth of private property will be adversely affected by the Greenbelt Infiltration Project in its currently proposed location. This begs the question, is the City of Hermosa Beach prepared to pay for the potential damage to personal property affected both during and after completion of this Project?
We strongly encourage the Hermosa Beach City Council to re-join the conversation with Redondo and Torrance and get this project moved. City Council has an opportunity to truly represent Hermosa Beach by declining this massive Project and moving it to Redondo Beach where it belongs.
Best regards,
Barbara Sabo, Beachside HOA Secretary FY 2018-19
I oppose the greenbelt location. It is too close to the underground apartment and condo garages. The water table is too high for this location. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen and gross negligence on the part of Hermosa Beach officials. Sharon Arey
I request that an EIR be ordered before any further movement of this matter. It seems that once a gain we'll be a dumping ground for Redondo Beach
Although I do not oppose the overall concept of using infiltration to help keep initial rain runoff from entering the ocean,
I strongly oppose this location due to several reasons including:
1. No proper Environmental Impact Review (EIR) was performed. EIRs are performed for much smaller and less controversial projects. We don't know if this will triggering or accelerating geologic processes
2. Not enough information is available to provide confidence of the effectiveness of the technology at this location. No information is available on the long term maintenance plan for this project.
3. This location is at or near areas that are designated liquefaction zones
4. A smarter solution would be to partner with the Redondo shores redevelopment plans for the power plant. There's even a designated salt marsh area there. A short delay to coincide with this plan would be a better combination.
5. Other locations are available and could be more suitable and effective - including the beach - similar to the Hermosa Strand Infiltration Trench
6. The initial storm water could contain hazardous materials especially if it is collected from the light industry area of Torrance. These hazardous materials can create health issues in the neighborhood.
7. Knowing all of this, the City could be negligent and vulnerable to lawsuits from homeowners that suffer damages from construction and health hazards.
Comment from unit 46 will be presented byJohn Lauba and Danielle Battut June 19
We need common sense to put the Herondo Storm Drain underground filtration project where there is minimal impact on residences and buildings.
The proposed Green Belt area between Herondo St and 2nd Street is highly residential, has liquefaction danger and we are learning that its ground water table may be too high for this infiltration project.
Looking at an aerial view one can easily see that the water drainage pipes that run along 190th/Herondo Street and end into the ocean by the Charthouse, can be easily directed to a site south of Herondo where there are no buildings or vegetation. The attached map shows empty land with no liquefaction danger and no modification of landscape. Efforts labeled “administratively impossible” (Easy Reader article April 6, 2018) in relocating this project to empty SCE land have to be looked into. This way we retain full use of the public Greenbelt area during the project with little or no impact on Hermosa Beach residents during construction.
Thank you for listening; we look forward to our Hermosa City Council to support its voting citizens in providing a good solution.
Let’s do something good for the ocean; but DO NOT forget the people.
Knowingly devaluing property and quality of life, damaging health, the long term stability of property and the immediate environment, refusing to cooperate, communicate, include or negotiate with the tax paying residents, this project and the way it is being handled is an astonishing disregard for the quality of life for Hermosa Beach residents. Without question, the city is not acting in the best interest of the homeowners and citizens who live near the project. We beg of you to reconsider the location and approach this important environmental move with a more appropriate solve. The greenbelt, a dedicated and claimed public nature walkway, nestled amongst residential buildings is not it.
The negative impacts of building the proposed stormwater infiltration project on the Greenbelt are significant, unmitigateable and growing. It is time for the City Council to step up and take control of this project. We respectfully urge the City Council to stop the design of the Greenbelt Infiltration Project and instruct staff to relocate the project to one of the other more appropriate options ( The Beach, Herondo St. Lot, or one of the original options). If Council rejects these arguments for relocation off of the Greenbelt, then please at a minimum, order a site specific Environmental Impact Report (to give us a modicum of peace of mind). An EIR is required here because you simply do not know what you don’t know. The identified risks are real and we deserve an unbiased study of what is being imposed on hundreds of homeowners against their wishes and reasonable expectations.
These are strange times. We look to our homes as a refuge, literally a safe and quiet place to live. You are imposing in a residential area, 2 years of heavy equipment construction to build an industrial sized project and you are removing of dozens of mature trees and landscape to be replaced by dune scrub. When done, 2 million gallons of polluted water will be routinely flushed into the Greenbelt, a Greenbelt subject to soil subsidence, liquefaction and potential flooding and water damage to surrounding homes due to the high water table. There will be permanent smells and ongoing noise from the 2 football field sized stormwater processing plant you are building. Our property values will plummet. All for what? A weighing of the costs vs benefits shows that those of us living on and near the Greenbelt to be the clear hands down losers as we are bearing all of the costs and receiving none of the benefits (congrats to winners Redondo and Torrance for using us as their dumping ground and to the City profitting appx. $350K to manage this travesty)
What gives you the right to impose this on hundreds of Hermosa Beach residents against their wishes? I guess your City Council position gives you the power to do it, but you should be darn sure that you’re doing the right thing, the best thing and be willing to guarantee that you are not making things worse by endangering us, our homes and property values. Short of that, by refusing to move the project or in the alternative order a site specific EIR, you have failed us.
I live directly across the street from the proposed construction. My Mother ( 95 years old) and her husband(90 years old) also live with me. The disruption to their quality of life with ongoing construction for 2 years is totally unacceptable. The likely hood of fumes and odors from the project will certainly endanger their health. I seriously doubt any council member is opting to have this project g in their front yards. This is a project that should be done in a commercial area, not a residential neighborhood.
It makes no sense to tear down that part of the greenbelt and replace it with a water storage facility that I will see from my front room. I speak from 40 years of experience in selling homes in the Beach Cities. Putting that facility in that location will cost all homeowners who live along the green belt hundreds of thousands of dollars in the value of their homes. The concept is beyond reckless.
In addition to the unsightly facility, loss of trees and the loss of home values; I am also very concerned about that much water being diverted and any chemicals and or odors that will arise from the project. I lived in North Manhattan Beach for many years and these types of plants are not odorless.
We just had to fight an Oil drilling issue that planned to run pipes in the same area and now our own City Council is planning to destroy the value of our homes as well as the air we breathe.
Shame on every one of you for even considering doing this in a residential area.