For more than 100 years the Redondo Beach waterfront has housed a power plant — known today as AES Redondo Generating Station — but this could soon change.
On Tuesday, March 3, residents of the southern-most beach city will determine the fate of the power plant and the waterfront it sits on when they hit the polls and vote on Measure B, a rezoning effort that was actually spearheaded by AES last summer.
If it passes, the waterfront’s landscape will change dramatically, as the power plant will be torn down and make way for a mixed-use residential and hotel development dubbed Harbor Village.
While many agree that the plant — sometimes referred to as the eyesore of the South Bay — should be torn down and the area repurposed and revitalized, disagreements abound over how and by whom. Some locals see the fact that AES itself is leading the redevelopment initiative as suspect. Those in this camp hope to stop Measure B and replace it in the future with a ballot measure put forth by the residents of Redondo Beach.
As Jim Light, head of Building a Better Redondo, admonished to the Easy Reader, “It’s a farce; it’s a corruption of the initiative process. To let the property owner zone their own property — nowhere else in the state can you do this.”
Still, there are those fearful that defeating Measure B will only lengthen the decades-old process of getting rid of the plant, or perhaps prevent it altogether. One such person is Redondo Beach Mayor Steve Aspel.
“Measure B is the only way to guarantee the removal of the power plant,” Aspel said recently. “It will provide absolute certainty that we will have a waterfront free of the power plant and all industrial development.”
As with the hotly contested Measure O in Hermosa Beach, which you can read more about here, Redondo Beach’s Measure B has led to a strong divide among some members of the community because we all care so much and want the best for the South Bay. As I said about Measure O, I know it’s not my place to urge you to lean one way or another on political issues, but I do encourage you to get informed. To learn more about Measure B and the arguments for and against, visit the links below.
City of Redondo Beach Election Information (read the proposed text, arguments in favor and against, rebuttals to arguments, and the City Attorney impartial analysis)
Power play: The fight over Measure B and Redondo’s Waterfront (See “How we got here” section beneath the first photo for detailed background)
Opposing views on Measure B in Redondo Beach: Letters (opinions from members of the community)