City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Good evening, I will call the City Council meeting to order at 5.03 p.m. City Clerk, may I have a roll call, please?

Yes, Your Honor. Council Member Gerson.

Present.

Council Member Kartzonis. Present. Council Member Lewis. Present. Council Member Liu. Present. Council Member Shaik.

Present.

Mayor Kalani. Present.

The council will now recess to close session to confer with the city manager and city attorney on the agenda matters listed under 13A. Conference with Legal Counsel, Existing Litigation. 13b, Real Property, Conference with Real Property Negotiator. And 13c, Conference with Labor Negotiator. A closed session on these matters is authorized by California Government Code Section 54956. point nine D 154956.8 and 54957.6. We will return after closed session. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. ... ...

Bye.

. . Thank you.

Good evening. I'll now reconvey our City Council meeting at 6.30 p.m. I'd like to welcome everyone joining us in the Council Chamber, as well as those watching remotely. We have been in closed session. City Manager, do we have any actions to report?

Good evening, Your Honor. No actions to report. Thank you.

We will go ahead and move on to item number two, our flag salute and invocation. We honor those who make it possible for us to be here today. If there's anyone here in the audience who is on active duty or a military veteran, please stand or raise your hand so that we can recognize you. We are very grateful for you. And if you could remain standing, we will have Council Member Lewis do our flag salute and Council Member Liu, our nonsectarian invocation.

Hand over your heart, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

invocation, let's pause for a moment and remember the privilege and responsibility we have been given to serve the people of Torrance. May we approach tonight's decisions with open minds, steady hearts, and a genuine desire to do what is best for our community. Give us the wisdom to see beyond our differences, the patience to listen to one another, and the courage to make difficult decisions when they are necessary. May we remember that behind every policy and every vote are real people, our neighbors, our children, our seniors, our families, and those who call Torrance home. May we lead with integrity, speak with kindness, and always put service before self. And may our work tonight contribute to a safer, stronger, more compassionate Torrance for everyone. Amen.

Thank you Council Members Lewis and Council Member Liu. I also wanted to give some special recognition. We've been joined this evening by past Mayor Pat Fury, past Mayor Frank Scotto, and my dear husband, I gotta add that, thank you. Moving on to item three, announcement of withdrawn, deferred, and or supplemented items.

Thank you, Your Honor. I'm Troy and City Manager. Item 8H was removed from the agenda and will be heard at a future council meeting. We have also 8J. The item is deferred to August 25th City Council meeting. There are supplement materials for item 80 from transit to award contracts to this agreement to operate the Torrance Community Transit Program, TCTP. eight I from Public Works to approve amendments to measure and funding agreements with the LA County Metropolitan Transpiration Authority. And lastly, nine a from Planning Commission and Community Development to conduct public hearing to consider appeal of Planning Commission denial of minor hillside exemption. Thank you, honor.

Thank you, city manager Chaparian. Moving on to item four, I'll take a motion to waive further readings of resolutions and ordinances after name and title, please.

So moved.

Second.

Start voting, please. Your Honor, that motion carried unanimously.

Thank you. Moving on to Item 5, Council Committee Meetings and Staff Announcements. I ask that we adjourn in solemn memory of a beloved member of our Torrance family, Ryan Simpkins, who recently passed away following a courageous battle with cancer. Council Member Kartzonis.

For over 11 years, Ryan dedicated himself to our city and the Torrance Police Department. He joined TPD in May 2015 as a records technician and most recently served as an administrative assistant in the financial planning and strategy division. Throughout his career, Ryan earned the profound respect and admiration of his colleagues through his dedication, professionalism, and unwavering positive attitude.

Those who had the privilege of working alongside Ryan knew him as genuine, compassionate, and deeply funny. Someone who could instantly brighten any room and make everyone around him feel truly valued.

Ryan's roots within Torrance Police Department run deep. His wife, Amy Simpkins, has served our community through the department since 2012 and currently serves as our court liaison. His sister-in-law, Natalie Blumfield, has been a valued team member since 2010, serving as an administrative analyst together. Their family has given years of dedication and service to Torrance.

Above all else, Ryan was a devoted family man. He and Amy shared a beautiful life raising their seven-year-old son, Liam, who was the absolute center of Ryan's world. Whether they were playing video games, taking trips to Disneyland, cheering on the Anaheim Ducks, or camping and fishing at June Lake, Ryan's love for his family showed through everything he did.

Ryan reminded us all that our city team is more than just an organization. We are a family. His passing is a tremendous loss that will be felt deeply across every division. But his spirit, his kindness, and the laughter he brought to our workplace will never be forgotten.

On behalf of the City Council and the entire Torrance community, I extend our deepest condolences to Amy, Liam, Natalie, and the entire Simpkins family. We are profoundly grateful for Ryan's service, his friendship, and his legacy that he leaves behind. Moving on, Council Member Shaik, please.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm excited to share that Torrance Transit is kicking off the 2026 NFL season with the return of its popular game day service, offering fans a safe, reliable, and inexpensive ride to SoFi Stadium to cheer on their favorite football team. Beginning August 20th, service will depart from the Mary K. Giordano Regional Transit Center in Torrance and head directly to SoFi Stadium in Englewood. Last season, more than 15,000 fans took advantage of this convenient service, and we were thrilled to bring it back for three preseason games, followed by regular season games starting September the 13th. The round-trip fare is just $4. Is that a mistake? No, it's a $4. The round-trip fare is $4, and parking is free at the Mary K. Giordano Regional Transit Center, located at 465 Crenshaw Boulevard. Due to limited parking spaces, carpooling or rideshare is encouraged. To make it even easier, riders can use Connect Torrance to get to the Mary K. Girono Regional Transit Center. The first six rides are free for all users, which can be booked through the Connect Torrance app. We look forward to seeing fans on board and helping to make game days stress-free and fun. From the moment you leave Torrance, Thank you to the Torrance Transit for making this service possible. For more information, please visit torrance.ca.gov. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Shea. Council Member Liu.

Thank you, Mayor Kalani. I'd like to encourage the community to help shape Torrance's objective development standard for the hillside overlay and single-family neighborhoods. Your feedback and ideas will help ensure these guidelines reflect local priorities, support thought growth, and improve the quality of development in our community. Visit the city's website at torrentsca.gov, scroll down to the Trending in Torrance section, and share your comments, please. You can also see what others in the community are saying. We value your voice and hope that you will all participate. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Kartzonis.

Thank you, Mayor. I would like to ask for Council concurrence to consider a data center ordinance. Some of our neighboring cities have had to be reactionary when they've had proposals, and I'd like us to be a little more proactive. So what I'm ideally hoping for is something that would define a zone that would be acceptable for them to be in, maybe industrial, I'll leave that up to staff to come back to us with recommendations, residential buffers, specific scheduling around generator testing, because I know that's a big concern for some people, testing generators in the middle of the night. Cooling fan noise limits, limits on testing hours, emissions when it comes to the generators or if we can consider alternative fuels. So just want to see if I can get concurrence for that.

Council Member Lee? Okay, I see a 6-0. I also have I also have a request for concurrence. I'd like to ask for concurrence from council to request the city clerk advertise three remaining commission vacancies on civil service, historic preservation, and parks and recreations, solicit applications, and bring an item back to council to appoint these three positions. Okay, six zero again. Thank you. Moving on, city clerk Poirier, please.

Thank you, Mayor. The City Clerk's Office is accepting applications for the vacant District 4 City Council seat. Applications are due by this coming Thursday, August 13th, by 5 p.m. No exceptions. Postmark's not accepted. Applications are available online and must be submitted with the supplemental questionnaire. Applications are also available in the City Clerk's Office. For more information, please call 310-618-2870. Thank you, Your Honor.

Thank you. Now at this time, I would like to invite Commissioner Akiyama and Commissioner Safarian to talk about our 2026 Commercial Beautification Awards. If you'd like to step up to the podium, please. Oh, just you tonight? Thank you.

Okay. So this one or this one? OK. Both? Just this one? OK. This one. OK.

Sorry.

Good evening. I'm Commissioner Sepharian representing the Torrance Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation Commission. I'm pleased to announce that following the success of last year's Commercial Beautification Awards, the 2026 Commercial Beautification Award nomination period is now open. The City's Community Development Department kicked off this year's program on August 1st and nominations will be accepted through the end of this month. The Commercial Beautification Awards were created to celebrate and recognize businesses and commercial property owners in our community who take great pride in their properties and contribute to making Torrance a more beautiful and sustainable city. When business owners and property owners care for and invest in their properties, it has a positive impact on the entire community and we're excited to recognize those who enhance and maintain their storefronts and properties and indoor spaces. This year's awards will highlight outstanding retail offices and industrial properties. If you can think of a business or commercial property that amplifies Pride in its appearance, now is the time to submit a nomination. Last year's winners included several outstanding Torrance businesses, including the Schweitzer Center, Moog Aircraft, and Morgan's Jewelers. This year's honorees will be selected from each City Council district. Award recipients will receive a certificate of recognition at an upcoming Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation Commission meeting. The nomination process is quick and easy. Simply visit the City's website at torranceca.gov slash beautification awards to complete the online nomination form. Be sure to submit your nomination by 5 p.m. on August 31st, 2026. And please join us at the Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation Commission meeting on November 5th, 2026, when the awards will be presented to this year's nominees. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Okay, moving on to Community Matters 6A. The Torrance Youth Council was established 47 years ago to identify youth issues and concerns, make recommendations and suggestions, advise and confer with the city council, city commissioners, committees, and city staff on related matters. In addition, they officially represent the city in youth affairs and provide support to the Attic and the Torrance Teen Center. The Torrance Youth Council is comprised of 18 students representing Torrance Unified School District High Schools, El Camino Community College, and the private high schools within the city. Tonight, I would like to request that the Torrance City Council approve the appointment of 16, I'm sorry, of 18 members to serve as the 2026-2027 Torrance Youth Council. But before you are sworn in for duty, I would like that each of you come up, come forward, introduce yourselves, and tell us which high school that you'll be representing.

Hi, my name is Zoe Rosen. This is my third and final year on the Youth Council, and I am a senior at North High School.

Hello, everyone. This is also my third year in TYC, and I'm gonna be a rising senior at North High School.

Hello, my name is Bishop, well, my name is Juven Hong. I'm a rising senior at Bishop Montgomery High School, and this is my second and final year at the Torrance Youth Council.

Hello, everyone. My name is Anya Tripathi, and I'm a rising senior at CAMS, and this is my third and final year on TYC.

Hi everyone, my name is Eric Jerez. This is my first year on TYC and I'm an incoming junior at West High School.

Hello, my name is Colin Lee. I'm a junior at South High School and this is my first year.

Hi, my name is Mana Vanakaware. I'm a sophomore at CAMS, and this is my first year of Torrance Youth Council.

Hello, my name is Jenna Chung. I'm an incoming junior at South High School, and this is my first year on TYC.

Hello, everyone. My name is Simone Hussain. I'm going to be a rising senior at North High School, and this is my first year in TYC.

Hello, everyone. My name is Raul Acevedo. I'm an incoming senior at North High, and this is my first year on the Torrance Youth Council.

Good evening, city of Torrance. My name is Corey Song, and I am a rising sophomore at Torrance High School, and this is my second year at Torrance Youth Council.

Good afternoon. My name is Olivia Suminaga. I'm a rising senior at Torrance High School, and it is my first year on Torrance Youth Council. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Taegan Kim. I'm a rising junior at Torrance High School, and this is my first year on the Torrance Youth Council.

Hello, my name is Isha Chethi Khatil, and I'm a rising junior that will attend West High School next year, and this is going to be my first year serving on the Torrance Youth Council.

Hello, my name is Ava Thompson. I'm an incoming sophomore at Torrance High School, and this is going to be my first year on TYC. Thank you.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Anthony Gee. I'm a rising senior at CAMS, and this is my first year on the Youth Council.

Thank you, that's everyone with us tonight. Does our future in the city of Torrance look bright? Thank you very much. Now I will ask City Clerk Rebecca Poirier to come forward and officially swear in Torrance's 2026-2027 Youth Council, and afterwards I'll ask the- Mayor, can we appoint them first?

Thank you. I move that we appoint these awesome high school students and the two who aren't here to become members of the 2026-2027 Torrance Youth Council.

I second that motion. Start voting, please.

Your Honor, that motion carried unanimously.

Thank you. That was very important. And now we'll ask City Clerk Rebecca Poirier to officially swear in the 2026-2027 Youth Council. Come on.

Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear or affirm or affirm that I will support and defend that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Constitution of the United States of America the United States of America and the Constitution of and the Constitution of the State of California the State of California Against all enemies, foreign and domestic, I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of California. I take this obligation freely. I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

Congratulations.

Thank you. Don't go anywhere. On behalf of my colleagues on the Torrance City Council, it's my pleasure to congratulate each and every one of you and look forward to working together. We're going to come down and take some pictures together, okay? OK. Our next item is item 6B, a proclamation declaring August 15, 2026 as India Independence Day in the city of Torrance. I'd like to invite my colleagues on the Council to join in reading the proclamation. Following the reading, I'd like to invite the Cianelli family of Bluestem Hotel, along with the Ambassador, Dr. J. I'm sorry, Dr. K. J. Help me. That's it. That's it. The Consulate General of India to the podium to receive the proclamation.

Whereas August 15, 1947 marks the historic independence of India from British rule, commemorating the birth of the world's largest democracy and the successful culmination of a peaceful movement grounded in civic leadership, courage, and self-determination. And whereas India is now the most populous country in the world, representing more than 1.4 billion people, and plays a significant global role in democracy, education, science, technology, and economic development with deep cultural and civic ties to communities across the United States. And...

Whereas Indian holidays and cultural observances are increasingly recognized across the United States as part of the evolving civic landscape, reflecting the importance and contributions of Indian Americans, notably California and New York, who have formally recognized Diwali as an official public holiday in many jurisdictions, with schools closed and paid leave observed, demonstrating that Indian holidays have achieved meaningful civic recognition at the state and local levels and

Whereas cities and states across the nation, including the city of Los Angeles, which has formally recognized August 15th as India Independence Day, as well as jurisdiction in California, New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, and the Pacific Northwest have issued official proclamations hosted flag-raising ceremonies and supported civic observances honoring India Independence Day on August 15th, reflecting a broad national precedent and bipartisan support. And

Whereas Madhu and Sudha Chinani, I just like to pronounce these names, Madhu and Sudha Chinani and their family, founders of Bluestem Hotel Torrance, active civic leaders, and parents of hometown hero, retired US Army Captain Alok Chinani, and with Hanuman Temple Torrance have hosted annual Indian Independence Day celebrations drawing over 2,000 attendees each year, supported by officials from the City of Torrance, the City of Palos Verdes, and the City and County of Los Angeles, reflecting strong regional engagement and official civic recognition and

Whereas the City of Torrance, home to a vibrant and growing Indian American community, whose members contribute meaningfully to the city's economic vitality, professional workforce, health care system, educational institutions, entrepreneurship, and civic life, recognizes August 15th as India Independence Day in the City of Torrance.

Now, therefore, I, Sharon Kalani, as Mayor of the City of Torrance, California, do hereby proclaim August 15, 2026 as India Independence Day and encourage all residents to recognize and celebrate the historical significance of this day, the contributions of the Indian American community, and the shared democratic principles that unite us all. Signed this 11th day of August 2026. And now I'd like to invite out Council General, Mr. Shanani. Anyone else that would like to join?

Anybody else can join.

And we're going to ask the Council to join us as well in just a moment.

Anyone? Dana, Dana, come here. I need her. She was instrumental to make it happen. Okay, no, please.

Thank you.

Yeah, yeah. No. Thank you. Thank you. What? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody got a hot mic? Thank you.

Thank you very much, everyone. We're gonna get our council meeting back to order, but we're gonna have one final photo with the council general and our council. Okay, we do need to get our council meeting back to order, okay?

Thank you.

Okay, we're gonna take a photo once again with the council general and our council. Okay, if we could ask everyone to step back please.

. . . . . .

. . . . . . Thank you, everyone. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to save her a minute.

I'll be right back.

Thank you.

Okay, if we could have all the council members back up on the dais, please.

OK if we could please find our seats.

Okay, if we could please have some quiet in the chambers, I would appreciate it. We'll be moving on to oral communications one. This portion of the meeting is reserved for comments on items under the consent calendar or items that are not on the agenda. Under the Ralph M. Brown Act, City Council cannot act on items raised during public comment, but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed, request clarification, or refer the item to staff. Speakers under orals are limited to either oral communications number one or oral communications number two, and no longer than three minutes per speaker. For in-person participants, time starts when you step up to the microphone. If presenting handout material to council, please provide 11 copies to the city clerk before speaking. Handouts will be distributed while you speak. In accordance with California Senate Bill 707, the city has implemented remote public participation through Zoom to provide members of the public with an additional option to address the council during public comments. Members of the public attending remotely may call in by dialing 1-669-444-9171. Callers can press star nine to raise their hand if they would like to speak. When the last four digits of your phone number are called, you will be prompted to unmute. Telephone participants should press star six to unmute before speaking. City Clerk, has anyone signed up to speak?

Your Honor, we had some technical difficulties with the iPads earlier, so I don't have anybody for this item at this time.

I do know that there was one individual that was trying to sign up. Should I give you that person's name? Should we let him speak?

If you would like to call them, and I'll put the time in.

Mr. Shopper?

Yes, my name's Arthur Shopper. I have the copies. If someone could come pick them up, please. Thank you so much. That's the CliffsNotes version of the stuff that I gave the city council about the automated camera scheme, okay? I went to the traffic commission meeting. Normally, people don't want to waste any time at a traffic commission meeting, but guess what? It was standing room only, and it was about automated parking ticket enforcement schemes. The staff said, don't do it. The commission voted it down. Good, they're listening. You as a city council, please stop wasting the traffic commission's time on these automated camera ticketing schemes. They are unconstitutional. They are a waste of time. They're going to open up the city to massive liability. Councilwoman Lewis took the lead. She made a great statement. She emailed it to me and said, I do not support this. I'd like a statement from each of you on that. Please direct the traffic commission. Stop wasting their time on this. Now I know some people in the community are upset about people violating our traffic laws. I'm not saying it's not happening. There are better ways to handle it, like directing police officers to high-impact intersections. That's just what you're going to have to do. I remember Mayor Kalani, you talked about how you wanted to bring in more police officers. This is the reason to do that, but cameras are not the way. I want to put this out to everybody. Some people are... If you don't care about the Constitution, if you don't care about lawsuits, you want to protect our streets, right? Well, here's the thing. There are many studies and stats which show that when you bring in these cameras to give automated ticketing, you are going to increase accidents. It will make it worse. This is not the way to go. This is a no-brainer. Please stop wasting the Traffic Commission's time on this. Give a directive right now Because they voted down the whole parking scheme. Great. But there's still an attempt to look at doing this with red light cameras and speeding cameras. It all needs to be shut down. Stop wasting their time. Since Mr. Kartsonis, Councilman, you brought it up, data centers... please don't ban them that is a luddite ridiculous nonsensical approach regulation is appropriate i think in industrial areas that's more than appropriate don't ban them because that's the push they just want to shut them down entirely this is the 21st century it's time for us to move ahead i don't want other countries inimical to our interests taking a lead on this I think I've been pretty clear on that. We need to put the Constitution first. I will not back away from it. Even people who generally don't ever want to hear from me totally agreed with me and were so glad I took a stand on this. Okay, no red light, no speeding cameras. Find a better way to regulate our streets. And I've said this to the traffic commission, so now I'll say it to you. Traffic commission should be focusing on streets that are not good to ride on or drive on. There is a terrible section in this city between, it's Del Amo Boulevard between Van Ness and Western. That street is like a third world country. It's horrible. We got a lot of great businesses who deserve a better street in front of them. And a lot of people are using it because it's a great thoroughfare to get from one side of the city to the other. That's the street that needs to be fixed. That's what you should have your commission focusing on. It should not be on cameras. Thank you, sir.

Next speaker, please.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Charlie Salinas. I come to you tonight with a problem about a very large American flag that flies over the old Torrance Business District. It's in terrible condition. It has been for the last few months. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not a flag fanatic. If I were, I'd ask the city council to crack down on all the people that use the American flag in advertising. which is one of the first rules written, never use the American flag in advertising, but people do it. Let me get back to our flag. This flagpole and flag are in some of the oldest pictures of Torrance. Ron's auto body, when he owned that property where the flagpole is, he replaced it all the time. He had nothing but money. He could afford it. Now, I don't know who's in there, and I don't know if money is an issue of why that flag is flying in such terrible condition. I know they're expensive. Perhaps there's a way, if money's an issue, if some sort of a fundraiser could get that expensive flag put up in proper condition, and then all of us could look at it every day and say, we paid for that flag. That big, giant, beautiful American flag, we paid for it, and it flies over the business district of Torrance. And I hope it... somebody can get it taken down immediately because to a lot of people it is offensive to fly the battle flag when it's not in a combat situation. Thanks for letting me speak. I wish there was a bigger timer on the screen. I can't see the little one on the corner, and I might run overtime next time I speak, so please do something about that.

Thank you again. Thank you, sir. Please, sir, thank you.

I do have handouts. Good evening, Mayor, City Council, and guests. My name is Fred Nichols. I'm a volunteer board member for Destination Art in Old Torrance, and I'm a volunteer board member of Disabled Veterans Charities. I'm here to share information about a newly funded program for veterans at Destination Art. Thank you to the Torrance City Council and Torrance Cultural Arts Commission for your ongoing support of Destination Arts since its founding in 2014. and your ongoing support, especially for your attendance at our receptions. Please continue coming to visit with us. Destination Art is a nonprofit, unique combination of studios and gallery in downtown Torrance, and is in District 4, where Mayor Kalani was a council member. My request tonight is to ask for your help in sharing information on our Veterans Creative Muster, our newest outreach program funded by a generous grant from the Disabled Veterans Charities. We have two veterans only workshop. We have had two veterans only workshops and have two more scheduled. The next program is Saturday, September 5th and another Monday, October 5th. These half day workshops are taught by a Destination Arts outstanding and popular instructors at no cost to the veteran and include a free lunch from Torrance Bakery. That should be reason enough to attend. One of the veterans attending the first program shared the class was a safe place. The Veterans Creative Muster is the newest of Destination Arts outreach programs joining Art for Everyone, a series of sessions providing an opportunity for people in the community who think they are not creative or artistic to be touched by the process of creating small works. Friends of Destination Art, in conjunction with the Autism Society of Los Angeles, we offer a series of classes to create an inclusive environment for young adults on the autism spectrum and other neurodiverse abilities to make connections through the art experience. We have Tuesday paint-ins. On paint-in Tuesdays, beginning to advance, skilled artists come together to work on their individual projects side by side, benefiting from the mentors' encouragement and insight. As a veteran myself, I thank my fellow veterans, Charlie Salinas, who you just met, and John Warhank, who teaches classes here in Torrance, who encouraged me to come here and share this information tonight. Also wanna thank Randy Clendenberg from Torrance Cultural Arts Commission for giving me some guidance on preparing this presentation. Thank you. One final thing. I lived in Torrance 50-some years ago. I have a brother and his family here. I have a son whose wife is a teacher at North High, and I have three grandsons in school here in Torrance. I was incredibly impressed what I saw at the early part of the session.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir.

Good evening, Mayor Filani and council members. My name is Marguerite Petrano and I live in District 5. I see we are being encouraged to speak and have a voice for Torrance. Tonight, I hope to have a voice for my neighborhood and for my neighbors in all of Torrance. I'm here to speak about shooting off of illegal fireworks in my neighborhood. I've been speaking about it since 2021 and I have not been seen and my voice has not been heard. I know you all see me tonight, and I only hope you will hear my voice. The individual doing this shooting of live fireworks lives around the block from me. Since 2021, I've been trying to get the individual stopped. I've had conversations and meetings with Torrance PD and the fire department. Here I am in 2026 still trying to get it to stop. July 2nd of 2026, I spoke with various members of Torrance PD. I was told there was a list being set up for this 4th of July. Lists would have names and addresses of people who are repeated offenders of shooting off illegal fireworks. Again, I gave the name and address of the person, terrorizing our neighborhood, our pets, putting us all at risk of fire or an explosion. The fireworks don't just happen on the 4th of July. They happen any random evening. This 4th of July, this individual shot off fireworks again, Torrance BD was called. I don't know if they showed up. My husband and I continued to try and control her anger. I spent hours in the closet with my dog, who was shaking with fear. We sit there every 4th of July, hoping that the evening just goes by and we get through the evening, while our neighbor doesn't blink an eye at the terror they are causing or the fire they are causing. This individual is being supported and protected by the people on their block. There are underage children present, and the children don't even have any clue that the fireworks are illegal. Their parents are doing it, so it must be OK. Everyone knows who the individual is. Torrance PD has set outside of their home. They have issued a citation to this person about two years ago, and it doesn't stop. And the person has said the citation will not stop them. The city of Carson has a zero tolerance for fireworks and they also have a line where you could call into the sheriff of a suspected firework activity. Hermosa Beach also has severe fines as well. I've been told numerous times nothing can be done. I've been told to get a picture, get a video. this person i know if any of the city officials here tonight lived on a street or in a neighborhood where illegal fireworks are being shot off this individual would be stuck thank you could we go ahead and get her name and number so we can get back with her thank you is there anyone else that would like to speak

Tess, Tess, thank you.

My name's Elizabeth Spatz. And I wasn't planning on speaking about the fireworks, but I do live on the street right behind where this neighbor is putting off his fireworks. And I spoke with him this last 4th of July because he was shooting off fireworks. I quickly ran around, and he was out in front with his children in the driveway watching and cheering. And I asked him to please stop. And he said, everybody does it. The children love it. And he said he'd been sighted before by the city, and it's no big deal, not a problem. He does it safely, he says. And when I asked him where he stores the fireworks, because that's also a concern, not just when he's shooting them off, but we're living with them being stored somewhere, that he just pulls them out and shoots them off. And he does this for birthdays, anything, any event that he likes to have fireworks at. And he said, that's not a problem either. They're safe. Everything is safe. I can't believe that that's really the case. So I would like to concur with Ms. Furtano that this is a real blight on the peacefulness in our neighborhood and has been for years. If someone could help us encourage this person to stop it, That would be great. I don't know what the consequences are for his behavior, whether there's a fine or some other deterrent that he would respect. I'd really like that to be explored. But what I really wanted to stand up here and tell you about was, wow, amazing new screens. I haven't been in this room since they've been installed. Very impressive. I can't read a word on them. The font is really small. If you could possibly ask your IT or AV gurus just to get it a little bumped up so that I could see it without trying to figure out which glasses to wear, that'd be great. Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm here to talk about the things that you brought up in the last couple of meetings. One is the piece of land you guys want to buy from Metro. Why you want to buy it, I have no idea. Is somebody getting kicked back? Because we don't need to buy something from Metro when you haven't fixed what you need to fix in the city. You guys want to redo the parking lot at the new bus stop we got. I don't see anybody going in there. You guys want to make an overnighter? An overnight parking? Why? And if you have an overflow, you can use Wilson Park. So why throw money away, good taxpayer money, on doing something that you don't need to do? The other thing is, I guess we're getting tickets on our trash cans now. about what we can and cannot put in our trash cans. Who's paying for this? I don't know, but city councilor, you can do something better with that money than having a guy go ahead of the trash can and put this on our trash cans and tell us what we can and can't put in our trash cans. This is the first week I've seen it. It wasn't on there last week, it was on there this week. Still wondering when is eight trolleys gonna come back? Can you guys send them out to get repaired? Somebody getting a kickback on that and holding them for ransom or what? Because obviously they're not back yet. And you guys haven't decided what you're going to use them for. So whoever's getting the kickback, give us some of it. The other thing is, you guys are talking about El Nino coming. I don't see the city getting ready for it. I got three or four gutters down my street that are still plugged up. So if you guys are getting ready for El Nino, it doesn't look like it. And we're expecting it, and bad one. What's the city doing about it? And this money that you guys are spending, even out here in the city hall parking lot, you guys got potholes. The city's got potholes all over the place. If we get El Nino, you're going to have bigger potholes. So wherever you're putting this money, like in a bus stop, getting Metro, or doing some other dumb thing you guys want to do, like getting this out, you know, think about it. Think really good about it. Because taxpayers are getting tired of them spending their money on things you don't need. You don't need like a big screen at the bus stop. Who goes out there and look at that big screen? You guys have any movie night out there or what? Because there's no reason for that big screen there. And like I said, an overnight parking and a double decker? Really? I don't think so. Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Hi, Lauren Cotner, District 3. Love the screens. Not those, but like she said, the font would be better, bigger if you can. I talked about this on May 19th meeting. We have this issue since you guys are allowing ADUs to be put in apartment buildings. changing the parking, you know, removing the garages. And nobody's fighting the state because allegedly they charge you $10,000 a day or something because we won't fight them. But you can help us by doing something about the parking. There are fights Sunday and Monday nights in our streets on District 3. I'm on Emerald and Garnett. And there is no parking. So you have people lined up. And then they come out. And then somebody pulls in. And there's going to be an incident. And it's not going to be pretty. Luckily, I have a space off the street. But I think a great solution, I had sent this to Aurelio before he became treasurer, was maybe like in Hermosa Beach, they have the lined parking. spaces so that people aren't taking three spots to save them and they're parking in front of driveways it's just it's i know it's probably sounds menial to you but if you drove through there on a sunday night or a monday night it's it's chaos anyway thank you thank you

Is there anyone else in the chambers that would wish to speak? Please step up to the mic now. Okay, I see no one. Oh, there you are, thank you.

Hi, my name is Barbara Ono, and I would just like to thank, compliment, and commend the City of Torrance senior services personnel for the outstanding programs and services that they provide for the senior citizens. I spoke to one of my in-laws' neighbors who happens to be an elder care attorney for the city of Pasadena. And she had said that she referred three of her clients and they physically moved their parents to the city of Torrance because of the excellent programs that Jesus, Sal, and Garrett and their teams have sponsored. So thank you.

Thank you for recognizing them and thank you for what you do for the city as well. Anyone else? Okay, we have, oh, come on up.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. So back in the late 1980s, my parents did the audacious thing and left everything they knew in India behind to move to the United States to call America home and pursue the American dream. They landed in a place called Hemet in the desert, and my dad had a job in Carson. On the way between, and he would commute, make this commute regularly, because he had to make a living. I asked my parents recently why they ended up choosing Torrance as their forever home, and they shared the story of pulling off of the freeway onto Artesia as they were driving on the 405 to fill up gas in their car, And my dad said it was nice, like getting out and filling up his gas and hanging around in the city of Torrance just felt really nice. And so when they had the luxury of being able to move, they picked Torrance as their forever home. So that's my origin story. And I just wanted to say thank you to the council and to the mayor for acknowledging and proclaiming august 15th as india independence day it was really nice to see my family's heritage and my heritage recognized and celebrated this evening so thank you so much for supporting the southeast asian community and yeah just appreciate you all happy indian independence day thank you okay anyone else i'm gonna wait a moment

Okay, we have about six minutes left. So now we'll take remote participants. Callers can press star nine to raise their hand. Staff, is there anyone that is on the line and wishing to speak? There are no callers, Your Honor. Okay, thank you very much. So the time for public comment then has ended, and we're now moving on to the consent calendar. Can I have a reminder of which items are no longer on the consent calendar, please?

8H and 8J, Your Honor, thank you.

Thank you. So do we have any council members who wish to pull any items listed under the consent calendar? Council Member Schick.

Eight E as in Edward, please.

Okay, is there anyone else? Okay, so then we'll take a motion to approve the balance of the consent calendar with the exception of eight H and eight J. That's eight Henry and eight Jerry. being removed, and eight E as in Edward for discussion.

I make a motion to approve the balance of the consent calendar for the exception of eight E, eight H, and eight J.

Second.

Start voting, please. Your honor, that motion carried unanimously.

Thank you. Council Member Sheik, H-E.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to thank our staff and basically thank them for the wonderful job they're doing for the senior taxi programs. The staff has personally received incredible amount of positive feedback from the program itself. And I'd like to emphasize that it's only $1, $3, or $5 for seniors to use that service. and I was told that about 3,500 Taurus active participants are in this program, which is commendable. And I just want to thank the staff for doing a wonderful job, and I'd like to also request our community members to let us know if we can improve any way, shape, or form. The program is is really well received by the community. So if you have any input, please reach out to us and get a chance and thank our staff for doing a wonderful job to promote this program. I do not have any questions. Thank you. With that, I'd like to make a motion to approve agenda item 8E, please.

I will second.

Start voting, please. Your Honor, that motion carried unanimously.

Thank you very much. Okay, moving on to hearings. 9A, now is the time and place for the appeal of Agenda Item 9A, a recommendation of the Community Development Director that City Council uphold the appeal and adopt a resolution to approve a proposed 694-square-foot attached garage located on the north side of an existing one-story single-family residence on the property located within the hillside overlay in the single-family resident district R1 zone at 439 Via Linda Vista. The appeal process will follow with first a presentation by staff followed by a presentation by the project appellant with a maximum of 10 minutes. Next, a presentation by the party opposing with a maximum of 10 minutes. after which members of the audience may speak with a maximum of three minutes each regarding the proposal, followed by a maximum five-minute rebuttal by the project appealant, and finally questions from the council. Is there any council members that need to recuse or have any disclosures before we start?

council member cartonis thank you mayor kalani i was a member of the planning commission when this was heard by that body as you see in your agenda it was heard and denied and because of that i need to recuse myself thank you sir council member lewis

Thank you, your mayor. I have a disclosure to make. Some of the applicant's neighbors emailed all the city council members about the proposed project. I had replied to one of them that I would uphold the planning commission's decision to deny the project. The emails are included in the original and supplemental materials for this item. As a new city council member, I was not fully aware of my applications when deciding an appeal of a specific case. I did not know I could not take a position on this matter based on the materials in the agenda packet prior to the council meeting. I now understand that one of my emails may be viewed as not neutral. The Torrance City Attorney's Office informed me that the Council acts in a quasi-judicial capacity when considering an appeal of a specific case. The City Attorney's Office stated that I need to recuse myself under California law because of the email I sent about this specific case. I therefore am recusing myself from this matter.

Thank you, Council Member Liu. So we'll ask you to step into the back, please. Council Member Lewis.

I want to disclose that I did visit the site of the location and will make my decision tonight based on what I hear in this hearing.

Council Member Shaik.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd also like to disclose that I visited the property However, my decision will be based on the material provided to us today. Thanks.

Council Member Gerson.

I visited the site with Council Member Shaikh and Mayor Kalani. Just happened to run into them by accident, but same thing. I was just getting a view of the land so that I could understand what's presented this evening.

I also have to make the disclosure that not only did I visit the subject property, but in a previous unrelated matter, I did visit the property above, one of the properties above the subject property as well, but the decisions I make tonight will be based on the material that's presented this evening. Okay, is there a presentation by staff, please?

Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, Michelle Ramirez, Community Development Director. I'm going to turn the microphone over to Austin Lewin, who is going to be a planning assistant, who will be doing the presentation this evening. Thank you.

Good evening, honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Austin Lujan and I will be presenting this item. Before I get started, I want to make the City Council and the public aware of two scrivener's errors related to this item. The first error was the public hearing notice and involved the project number. The project number was correctly identified earlier in the notice and the project address, project name, applicant's name, and accessor's parcel number were all accurate. Therefore, the notice clearly identified the project that was subject to the public hearing. The project number was inadvertently listed incorrectly at the bottom of the notice where members of the public are asked to include the public number, our project number, excuse me, with the public comments. Fortunately, all public comments received included the correct number for the project. However, even if a member of the public had included the project number as it appeared at the bottom of the notice, staff would have accepted either project number. The second scrivener's error occurred in the staff report on the recommendation section. The recommendation should have been made solely by the community development director and should not have included the planning commission. Both scrivener's errors were addressed through a supplemental item that were provided to the city council and made available to the public.

With that being said, next slide please.

Here is an overview of the presentation. I will begin with the project location followed by the background, and I will conclude with staff's recommendation to this council. Next slide, please. The project site is on the east side of Villa Linda Vista. You can see the site highlighted here on the map for reference in blue. The site is zone R1, single-family residential, and is surrounded by residential uses.

Next slide, please.

So on August 29th, 2025, the initial administrative review letters were sent out to the immediate surrounding neighbors as part of the administrative process. Correspondence was received by multiple neighbors of the surrounding area. Staff conducted a site visit at the subject location as well as the neighboring properties. On October 29, 2025, an administrative staff report was approved and signed by the community development director. This decision was appealed by the neighbors on November 3, 2025, which triggered the need for a planning commission hearing. On January 21st, 2026, the item was presented to the Planning Commission. After discussion, the Planning Commission voted to deny the project 7-0. On February 18th, 2026, the Planning Commission reviewed a resolution for denial and adopted it 7-0. Finally, on March 3rd, 2026, staff received an appeal from the homeowners.

Next slide, please.

The following is the reasons for appeal of the Planning Commission denial.

These reasons include the original application containing a roof plan despite comments made during commission saying that there was not. The project is compatible with the existing neighborhood and the city council should not consider the ADU. Next slide, please. Here is a copy of the site plan. The plan shows side yard setback of 5 foot 8 for the garage. The front yard setback is 20 feet and the rear yard setback is 15 feet. All setbacks meet the development standards of the R1 single-family residential zone. Next slide, please. This is a copy of the elevations page. These elevations show the garage as well as proposed second story ADU. The proposed ADU will not be up for consideration for the City Council tonight. Per state law, this will be under ministerial review. The garage meets development standards of the R1 zone and below the thresholds that would trigger a precise plant entitlement. Without the ADU, the roof of the garage will be a ceiling height of 10 foot and half an inch, as shown on the south elevations page. Next slide, please. The following are pictures of the silhouette sent in by the homeowners. Next slide, please. And in closing remarks, based on analysis, the community development director recommends that the city council uphold the appeal and approve the project.

And then next slide, please.

And then with that said, thank you, honorable mayor and the city council for your time. That concludes staff presentation and we are available for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Is there a presentation by the project appellant? please step up to the podium, or to the mic, I'm sorry.

Mayor, council, they're just playing up the presentation right now.

Thank you.

Your Honor, we're having technical difficulty. If we can take a five minute break please, we'll reset.

Sure, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, we're back in session ready to start you have 10 minutes.

Good evening, the Honorable Mayor and city council members. My name is Christine freeze and I'm an attorney for Samuel and Maria Gong who live at 439 via Linda Vista. If you can please go to the next page. So here's some background. Samuel and Maria are the owners of 439 with their two small children. The Gong submitted plans to the city of Torrance to develop the property by removing the existing garage and replacing it with a new attached garage. The current garage is big enough to fit one car. The new garage will fit two normal-sized cars and possibly one small car. A minor hillside exemption was filed and approved by the city. An appeal was filed based solely on the ADU that is accompanying the garage. However, the ADU was not part of the application and was not before the City Planning Commission. Next page, please. Thank you. So this is a photo of the property. As you can see, the property is surrounding the garage or above the garage. The home in the back to the left are elevated, and that's where the garage addition will be. The next slide, please. Again, this is just another photo of the property so you can orient yourselves. I understand that you went out there. Next page, please. And again, another photo of the property showing the elevation. Next page, please. And again, another photo showing the elevation is significant for the houses in the back. Next page, please. So this is a photo of the property. There are hedges and the properties are elevated just so you can get a lay of the backyard, which I know is not visible from the front of the home. Next page, please. And as previously demonstrated by the city planning commission earlier this evening, this plan does meet the R1 zone requirements. The R1 zone does require a 15 foot rear yard setback and the front setback to be consistent with the block face. This is true for the garage addition. There is a rear yard setback of 15 feet and the garage will be consistent with the block face. This is also a 10 and a half foot garage. The hillside overlay does allow a 14 foot garage. So it is below what is allowable. in the city of Torrance. And finally, the application does not have an adverse view, light, air, or privacy impact. Again, the lot to the east has a significantly higher elevation. The lot to the north will not experience any adverse privacy impacts as the proposed replacement garage goes along the same line as the current garage, and there is vegetation there. Next page, please. So again, from the front of the house, when you visited the property, it was unlikely that you could see the silhouette, which is still up today. I went ahead, it is a bit hard to see, but I put arrows there where the silhouette of that little triangle essentially, which will be the garage addition. Next slide, please. Here's another photo from a different angle. You can see the triangular shape of the garage addition there. Next slide, please. And another photo from a different angle showing just the triangle of the garage addition, which is before the city council today. And next slide, please. I believe this is the final photo of the silhouette. Again, you can see it's lower than those hedges and would be difficult to see from the other properties. Next slide, please. One more, just to make sure that it was clear. One of the criticisms at the prior planning commission meeting was that there was no roof plan. The city of Torrance does allow ministerial, if I can speak, ADU plans to be submitted with reviewable projects. So you can submit both an ADU plan and a garage plan at the same time. And that is what happened in this case. The application does contain a roof plan for the replacement garage. Page three of the project plan submitted show a drawing of the roof plan, which is slanted down to preserve any views from behind. And again, the general construction notes also say roof covering for new construction shall be class A roof assembly. And there are several other paragraphs describing a roof plan. So there was a roof plan provided. albeit on the ADU, which is allowable for the City of Torrance. Next slide, please. And the Gongs respectfully request the City Council follow City staff recommendations and approve the garage remodel. We're happy to answer any questions you may have, and we thank you for your time and consideration this evening.

Thank you. What we'll do is if the council has questions for you, we'll call you back up.

Perfect. Thank you so much.

You're yielding your time then? Yes.

Okay.

Thank you. Is there a presentation by the party opposing? You will have 10 minutes.

Thank you. Is it possible to use the podium so I can set this down? That's okay. That's okay. It doesn't hurt to ask. Ready?

Should I, are we ready? Okay, thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Kendra Carney, Mayor, and I represent neighbors to the proposed project, but just a few of the 133 residents from 77 households who opposed the exemption on appeal before you this evening. Procedurally, it is important to remind the Council that the appellant, tonight here the applicant who you just heard from, bears the burden of proving its case on the appeal, not the neighbors who are here opposing the project. I also, can you, oh sorry, move to the next slide please. Thank you. Moving to the substance of the opposition now, I'll be brief because this appeal turns on one clean legal question. The whole appeal rests on a single premise. The appellant demands that you evaluate the project as if the attached two-story ADU simply isn't there. That premise is legally incorrect and it is the reason the Planning Commission denied this exemption seven to zero. Next slide please. Here's what is actually on the plans. Not a 10 and a half foot garage and not an ADU that shares walls with an existing primary residence. Instead, there is one integrated structure. As you just heard, the roof of the ADU is actually the roof of the garage. There's a new garage with a second story ADU built above and beside it, sharing a roof line reaching roughly 23 and a half feet. It is two stories. The applicant originally obtained the exemption by measuring only the garage and setting the second story aside. Call it what it is, there is an elephant on the roof. A whole second story sitting on top of this garage and the appeal asks that you make your findings as if it isn't there. Next slide, please. The city's own code does not allow that. Torrance Municipal Code section 92.2.10 says an attached ADU shall count towards the overall height and number of stories of the structure it is attached to. By the city's own measure, this is a two-story building exceeding 14 feet. The city cannot call it two stories for ADU purposes and one story to exempt it from the hillside overlay at the same time. Next slide, please. And that matters, because the findings you're asked to make, that there are no substantial impacts on views, light, air, and privacy, that any obstruction here is the least intrusive, that the project is in harmony with the neighborhood, every one of those turns on the physical building as a whole. California law is settled. Your findings must, in the Supreme Court's words in Topanga, bridge the analytical gap between the evidence and the decision. Findings that analyze the garage while ignoring the second story that drives the height, the mass, and the view impacts do not bridge that gap. And under the Orinda case, an agency cannot grant relief from its own standards through findings that never confront the facts that make the relief necessary. Here, the Planning Commission denied the exemption because it simply could not make the requisite findings. Tonight, neither the staff report nor the applicant's appeal provide any different evidence to allow the council to make those findings either. Next slide, please. Now let me be clear about what we are not asking. We are not asking you to deny the ADU. We do not ask you to subject it to discretionary review. The appeal confuses two things. Nothing in state ADU law requires the city to make false findings that ignore a project as a whole. You can allow for an ADU while still making the findings about the complete structure and requiring the project as a whole to submit a precise plan. We are simply asking the council to require this project to go through, to not be exempt from the hillside overlay because at 23 and a half feet it is not exempt. Treating the second story as invisible was a choice and that is legal error. Next slide please. Consider also where the applicant's premise leads. If labeling an upper floor an ADU truly forced the city to ignore the second story, then any applicant could put an elephant on the roof in this zone, evading the entire hillside overlay, the story poles, the 500-foot notice, the public hearing, the view protections, simply by calling it an ADU. That would hollow out the hillside overlay zone for this coastal hillside neighborhood and every other one in Torrance. Next slide, please. The correct vehicle is the precise plan of development, as the code calls for. It is exactly the process put in place by the city council to protect and balance the rights of individual homeowners in these communities. Next slide, please. Unfortunately, the staff report does not directly address any of this, and there is no analysis. It merely repeats it. It evaluates the garage as though the second story were not there, and tellingly, the draft resolution already recites that this council held a hearing and approved the project on July 14th, a hearing that never happened. Those findings were not written for the record before you tonight. And my final slide before some of the neighbors that I represent speak is that our request is simple. Deny the appeal and uphold the planning commission's unanimous denial. That leaves the applicant free to come back with a complete application, evaluate it as the project that it actually is. At a minimum, if the council is inclined to do anything other than deny, then we request that you continue the matter and direct staff to analyze the real complete project.

Thank you.

And then.

Honorable Mayor and City Council members, my name is Michael Wachfogel, 126 Cuyahoga Rialma, one of the original appellants opposing this project. Early in the process, we invited the homeowner at 439 Linda Vista and its architect to our home to show him the impact of the project and discuss ways the impact to surrounding neighbors could be reduced. In fact, his architect proposed some changes. But the homeowner actually said that those changes would cause him to lose his view from the project. It's our view, our light, our air, our privacy, which we've had for 35 years. It's not his to take. And he has made no He has made no effort at all to work with us since then. This project is a two-story addition disguised as an ADU. I urge the City Council tonight to uphold the Planning Commission's denial of this project, which was unanimously rejected by its members 7-0 after what was a lengthy and insightful discussion. Thank you.

Good evening. How much time do I have? Okay, thank you. Good evening, honorable mayor and city council members. My name is Jennifer Adams. I live at 130 Villa Los Miradores, the backside of Mr. Gong. I'm thankful to be here presenting our concerns to you all, but I'm also disappointed to see so few will be making such an important decision tonight for our neighborhood. Again, we don't believe the city followed proper procedure or protocol. My neighbors and I never saw plans for a single standalone garage with a 10 and a half foot roof. Instead, we saw a large addition to the house that will be nearly 24 feet in height. As you know, Torrance Municipal Code states very clearly that any construction, new or a remodel, over 14 feet needs to have a precise plan. So again, we believe that the minor hillside exemption is not appropriate for this project, and the Planning Commission's decision should remain. All of our documentation was submitted earlier last week, including letters, statements, photos of the impact, and our attorney's legal opinion. In that, we shared that we tried to work with the homeowners and met with Mr. Gong and his architect to try to come up with a compromise. The architect suggested digging down into the driveway and Mr. Gong stated that he would lose his view. The architect suggested changing the pitch of the roof and Mr. Gong stated that he wants his high ceilings. this discussion along with mr gong's appeal confirms that in fact he is building an adu and not just a standalone garage since this adu is now part of the record i would like to go over a few government codes as it relates to the hillside overlay sb 543 is the most recent update to adu laws and was signed into effect earlier this year the law remains that an adu cannot be higher than 25 feet or the height of the local zone ordinance Furthermore, the Torrance Municipal Code for ADUs also states that an ADU's height shall not exceed what's allowed in the underlying zone. As you all know, the hillside and local coastal overlay zone has very strict Torrance municipal codes. It appears that none of the codes are being followed in the hillside zone when it comes to ADUs. The Torrance code specifically calls for rearranging the existing space, and if that can't be done, then possibly someone might be able to build up if they can prove a hardship. In this case, there is no hardship. The Gongs purchased a home that was not a good fit for their family's needs. If they really need the space, they can build their ADU out into their backyard or even the front yard given the liberal setbacks. I have all the government codes here with the definitions if you'd like to look at them before you make your decision. Lastly, again, the main issue here is that the minor hillside exemption was not applicable in this case. There is no standalone garage. A precise plan is required. Additionally, per government code, ADUs can be denied when they don't meet specific objective standards, including height. They do not have to be ministerially approved if they don't meet those standards. I have that code here too if you'd like to see it. I thank you for your time and your consideration.

Thank you. Okay, at this time, is the project applicant wishing to make a rebuttal? You'll have five minutes.

will be brief um not to belabor the point but government government code 66316 and 66317 do not allow for discretionary review of adus and again i understand that that is what everyone is upset about today but that is not what is before the city council all that is before the city council is the garage remodel that is replacing the existing garage And again, we just want to take the focus away from the ADU because that is what the garage remodel is what is before the city council today. That is it. Thank you.

Okay, you're yielding the rest of your time. Okay, thank you very much. Okay, we're now going to take public comment on this matter. Each speaker will have up to three minutes to speak. City Clerk, has anyone signed up? Yes, Your Honor, Joe Buck.

Good evening.

I'm sorry to say that I think some of the chickens have come home to roast. The chickens arose because of the failure of Michelle Ramirez to include and address the possibility of limiting the heights of such construction to that of the single family dwelling that is there upon which is built. And as far as I can know, she's never admitted that she did not include that section in the statute that she was considering when she proposed, was it 91, 31?

31, 91, whatever it is.

You've got a mess to handle. You've got a lot of work to do. I was encouraged by the statement at the beginning of the hearing that you were increasing the ways in which the public can submit to the planning commission and to the council how to address the changes in the law that are required, I think, to protect the hillside. I say I don't envy you, but I certainly support your efforts and anything you can do here to at least avoid giving permits that down the line I think will not be allowed because you can't take a permit back once they've built the thing. So whatever you can do, and I think this thing just is great examples of muffling around with ADUs as a way to get around the limits and so on, is a problem. It's not simple. But it needs to be addressed. And I ask that that be done. And when I get home, I'll go look at the stuff that's been submitted and referenced, I think, at the beginning of this, and I'll see what what avenues that provides, but may I encourage you to do whatever you can to avoid issuing a permit in this circumstance without first having an option, the availability or the option to consider all this stuff.

Thank you, sir. You can go ahead and step up, ma'am.

Good evening, mayor and council members. I wasn't planning on speaking tonight, so I don't have anything prepared. But my name is Sarah Wachtvogel. I'm the daughter of Michael and Diane. We live at 126 Cayo Cabrillo. I have lived...

I'm sorry. Can we turn up her mic a little bit?

Sorry. I'll try to get closer. I moved into that house when I was two weeks old, 35 years ago, and lived there until five years ago when I moved out. And I had a great childhood there. Loved waking up and looking at the water from the kitchen and the dining area. And I'm very disappointed that an approval of this plan would affect the view that my parents have had this whole time. for the remaining time that they will be spending in that house. And I think that's it, I guess. I would just very much appreciate that you would take into account the argument that we have. And I've never seen my parents this stressed out, so it makes me sad. really want them to have the best rest of their lives that they can have in the house that I grew up in and that we all lived in for so long.

Hi. I'm a neighborhood in the Hollywood River era. I'm not against ADUs. I have an ADU. What I'm against is stealing a view, which means stealing money from your neighbors. And I think that the problem here is not the ADU. It's that this is going to be a 1,000 square foot addition to their home, including the garage, which makes it 2,000 square feet more. So now we're talking probably 3,000, roughly 400 square feet maybe on a small lot. And they gain a view. And they steal views from maybe three or four people. And this is the beginning of a firestorm that's going to happen in our area. This is just the beginning. Unless you people back there do the right thing, I think you should take more time than you need to try to really analyze this thing and figure it out, because it's going to start hurting people financially. And we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars up there that people have bought properties. And now you're going to steal all that. One neighbor is going to steal a view. Then somebody else is going to steal a view. And I think you're going to have some really serious lawsuits. But you're going to hurt the people that voted for you and put you into office. And I think, you know, this is It's coming to a head right now, but I think you need to take the time and really figure it out before you make a decision. This isn't an ADU, and this is more like an addition. And I wish I could say yes, because he is one of my neighbors. But I do have some hesitations. And I already have seen a lot of my friends being hurt by ADUs that are being built to steal views. It's hundreds of millions of dollars at the end. And it's going to ruin Torrance. And there's going to be a lot of lawsuits with the city of Torrance, but also the state of California. And you guys will be a part of this. Thank you.

Thank you.

OK. I first want to say that the lawyer on this side was clearly not really listening to the lawyer on this side based on the points they made in their rebuttal, because I feel like there was clear legal points on this side. But hello, my name is Kat Urquhart-Dunican. I live on the street behind this project and I grew up in the neighborhood. I'm also a part of Protect Our Homes, the neighborhood group that submitted public comments regarding this project asking you to please uphold the planning commission's decision to not approve this project. You all should have those comments. Basically, this discussion should be about process. It's really not about opposing this ADU and it's not about opposing this project just because people don't like it. It's that Torrens has not followed the appropriate process to approve this project. Process matters. Doing the right thing for this project and for this community matters. This is a very important decision. I wanna emphasize again, we're not asking you to deny an ADU because it's an ADU. We're asking you to make sure the actual project being built goes through the correct city process because many people know and believe that it hasn't. The city is essentially asking the council to review a 10 and a half foot garage for the minor hillside exemption, but that's not the building anyone will ever see. The actual project is a two-story structure approximately 23 and a half feet tall. The garage isn't proposed as a finished standalone building with its own independent roof. It's the first story of the larger structure. Of course the plans you see includes a roof, but there is no complete drawing of this 10 and a half foot building. The neighbors have not seen a drawing of the 10 and a half foot building to meaningfully review it and evaluate the project, which they have the right to do based on city codes. You can't meaningfully evaluate the impacts of this building when you don't have an actual drawing of what you're supposed to be reviewing and making comments on. Despite what the council is likely being told, the city doesn't have to choose between complying with California's ADU laws and following hillside overlay processes. It can and should do both. The California ADU laws do not completely tie the city's hands. There are ways that they can still show local control. If the state law limits what the city can ultimately require of the ADU, those questions can be addressed through the proper processes, the precise plan process. The answer should not be to skip process.

Thank you.

Good evening. Judy Brunetti. I'm former co-president of Riviera Homeowners. Today I drove by 439 Via Linda Vista to look at the site. There are no story poles or flags that I could see on this property. And if there's a 25-foot building on it, there certainly were no story poles that were that tall. I don't know how neighbors could possibly know what to expect from this new construction without that outline. That definitely needs to happen. There are strings that are running across the property, but there are no flags hanging from them. The flagging, the outline of this building needs to be clear, and people need to be able to see what is going to happen on the site. It's disingenuous not to put that up there. Also, there's no existing ocean view from the Via Linda Vista home, although they can attain an ocean view by building a second story on top of their garage. But they should make sure that the second story would not impact an already existing view from the homes behind them on Miradoris. But it sounds like that's going to happen. So somebody living on Miradors is going to lose an already existing view, which they have already paid for, because ocean views are very expensive. They add a lot of value to these properties. And this is why views are so important in the hillside overlay, one of many reasons why. these people building this house should not gain a view by taking away an existing view that's not fair i hope that this project will be denied until the homeowners provide an outline of the construction and talk with their neighbors And incidentally, I still am not completely convinced that the city of Torrance has to allow two-story ADUs and has to allow homeowners to consider their new construction a development. I think that the city has some wiggle room, and I think that they have some discretion in this matter. And we have a charter city, and we have an overlay on top of the hillside area. So there are additional rules for this area, and they should be considered. So please don't approve something that flies in the face of these various restrictions. Thank you. Thank you.

Before the next speaker speaks, I have a question for our city attorney. We're not here to approve an ADU, so are we off topic on this item by the public speaking on ADUs?

Jennifer Guerrero, deputy city attorney. Yeah, we're not here for the ADU. We're only here to look at the garage. But I think the reason why the ADU discussion has occurred is because the neighbors, I'm going to say neighbors, the appellees' arguments is that the project should be looked at as a whole and the two separate processes can't be separated. But the city's position is that these two separate processes must be separated because the city is required by state law to have a ministerial review of the ADU. I think that's why we have that. Um, so I, I'm not sure that you can really like the discussion is fruitful in the sense that that is the neighbor's argument. It's one project, one building, but the city's argument is that there's two processes and one part of that process allows for ministerial review. And that's why the ADU portion cannot be considered. And you look only at the garage portion and the height of the garage and not the height of an entire building. I don't know that that helps you, but that's the argument on both sides. I'm not sure that it's difficult because I don't know how you would separate the neighbor's argument with that.

I just want to make sure and please understand, I want you to be heard. I just want to make sure that we're adhering to our order within a council meeting. So we're going to continue to hear comments about the project as a whole.

I mean, that's the argument that the neighbors are making. But again, that's opposite of the city's position.

Okay.

Please step up. We'll continue to hear your comments on the project as a whole as presented.

good evening mayor and council members my name is annika and i'm here to represent my family and fellow neighbors of the hillside overlay district we are proud owners of property on the hillside overlay district and also proud adu owners and in that case we feel obligated to encourage you guys to not appeal today's motion because we believe as adu owners that you can have an adu but that it doesn't have to affect your neighbor's property values and their happiness and the certain perks that they enjoy being in the Hillside Overview District. We also wanted to urge you guys to reconsider the whole plan. As I know it is being marketed as a garage, however, we believe it is a little facetious and that it is almost like a Trojan horse that could possibly open a much bigger catastrophe that is setting a precedent that's going to affect all of us in the district. Because if this project is approved and these plans are approved, it then jeopardizes all of our views as one person's property being taken away is equivalent or views being taken away is equivalent to all of our views on the risk. So we just wanted to convey our support for not going through with this appeal urge today. And thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Marguerite. I want to go back to the website, the Torrance website. Your voice helps shape Torrance. Since I moved to Torrance over 25 years ago, the shape of Torrance has changed tremendously. And it's become worse in the last, I say, five years. People are coming into our community not respecting the fact that we are a beach town, that we are a small community of families, children, dogs, And they're spending $1.62 million to tear down a house to build a McMansion. I don't live in an area torn. I don't live with a view. I don't live in the overlay. But I have a two-story modern box monstrosity being built around the corner from me. And what's happening to Torrance, it's shameful. We need to protect our city. We need to protect every part of Torrance, every neighborhood, whether it's an overlay or not an overlay. But I think when people buy in the overlay, they really need to understand what they are buying into before they get this far ahead of themselves and then think that they could take things away from people that have lived here and have paid to live here and love this community, love their view, love their light, love their air. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Michelle Wachtfogel. I'm a sister of Michael. It's a free country. You can do what you want on your property. That's what's great about this country. But it's good to get along with your neighbors. It's good to be nice. It's good to be a good neighbor. You know when you're at a concert or at a volleyball tournament, and you've got a good seat, and the person in front of you stands up, and then you can't see? and so you stand up, people behind you stand up, nobody can see. It's not as much fun. Would have been better if everybody sat down. 76 years ago, it so happens, this month our parents got in a car after they got married and they drove here from New York in 1950. We've been here for a long time. people move here to the beach cities because they like it the way it is that it's quaint it's a nice town so to speak towns and then they build up and I just think people should hang on a second and look around and say, hey, can you see? Oh, sorry. Let me get down so you can see. Thank you. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Teresa Rankin. I am a neighbor of the house that we're talking about. And I just have to say, well done. Her idea that this is a Trojan horse was so well said. This is an illegal addition coming to you as an ADU. I really think you need to look at ADUs and come up with a way to make them. Because there's nothing wrong with an ADU. That's great. I don't think that's what he's doing. He's pushing that garage over to the house so they all connect. He wants a big house. I really think you need to look at what you can do as a city of making ADUs possible for people to build without a lot of conditions in a way that doesn't impact people down the road. I think this one, I think they're pushing it to see what they can do next. Watch out. Thank you.

I would request that the city deny this project. And again, I agree. Trojan horse. And I would also have the owners consider the amount of money that they're spending and have already spent trying to get this project through. Consider buying a house with a view, and put your money into a house that has a view. It would be money much better spent than doing this.

Thank you.

Hi, my name's Chris Cordobas. I live directly across the street. I saw you guys today show up, and I appreciate you taking your time to come and see the project. I have not been to any of these, so this was kind of an eye-opening situation for me, to be totally honest. I'm still waiting to see the 10 and 1 half foot garage remodel. All I've seen is the 24 foot model. I don't have an ocean view. If I go up on my roof, I have an ocean view. I have a fantastic ocean view. If this gets approved, I will be here next with my plans to build up. I have the cash, we're ready to go. So just think of the domino effect. We've lived on our area for 12 years now. We do not, we appreciate everybody keeping their houses and their views and whatnot. I know this is part of the ADU conversation, but realistically, as the Deputy Attorney said, There is no conversation here on the garage, on a 10-foot garage. Where are the plans for the 10-foot garage? They're not to be found. So I just ask that, take into consideration, and there's a lot of weight on your decision here with what's going to happen the next thing. He may have a view. It'll be for one to two years. Because when we build up, it'll be gone.

Thank you for the time. I have no skin in the game. It's not blocking my view, and I live down the block. But I think just to consider, take the ADU aside, take the view aside, you guys are making a decision based on approving a garage. Standard two-car garage is about 400 square feet. If you oversize it and want a bigger garage, maybe 750, 800 square feet. So to the gentleman before me, the gentleman before, the only plan I saw was for some two-story construction. So you guys have to make a decision on a plan that I don't believe we as neighbors in the community have actually seen. So I've heard, I think the number thrown around, about 1,000 square feet or an oversized garage. I could be wrong about that. I apologize. But standard size two-car garage, 400 square feet, maybe 800 square feet. We haven't seen plans of a construction of an actual garage with a roof on it. So that's all. Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor Kalani, mayors of the council. I, members of the council, my name is Jason Coles. I met the Wattvogels eight years ago. I am lucky enough to have been a part of their family for this long. And we have not seen the proper processes to consider this. It will become a monstrosity. And more so, I want everyone in here with a view or who has enjoyed a view to think about what that might look obstructed. Who's to say that they could possibly, that maybe even rocket ship park views that you love may become obstructive. The proper planning has not been followed. And please, please deny this plan. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Kalani and council members. Libby Spatz, current president of the Riviera Homeowners Association, but I'm speaking tonight on my perspective of the HOO moving forward. I think we've all heard from everyone here with very, very logical grounds made solidly, but really what you're being asked to do tonight is to vote on a project of the garage that doesn't exist. There isn't a roof that is going to be at the level that the garage has been stated. You're not going to see that garage being built, so you've got a challenge. How do you approve a hallucinogenic object? How do you do that? And if you look at what the Planning Commission was dealt with when they denied this project, that was in the discussion. Every one of them was asking each other, how can we vote? How can we approve something that doesn't exist? Not only does it not exist as a roofline, I was at that hearing. The architect made mistakes and didn't have a door for the property. And when he was asked where the door was for this project, he said, I made a mistake. Those aren't the final drawings. So the planning commission was submitted drawings that weren't finished. And I think you need to look at how this project has been presented to you. I think Kat got it dead right. This is about process. What you're being asked to do tonight is an assessment of the final part, where you stand right now, of this process. And the project is not being represented accurately. Doesn't matter if it's an ADU. Doesn't matter if it's a birdhouse that's going to be up there. What's being submitted to you tonight to decide doesn't exist. I don't see how you can approve that. It can't be approved because you don't know what you're approving. The end. Thank you. And I love this three minutes. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you.

My name is Mark Schroeder, and I live in the Hollywood Riviera. And as I listen to all this about, and I've been to these meetings previous to this one, it seems like what's going on now is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Can you do this? Do we have power to tell the state to, you know, you can't tell us what to do? I think before you can effectively handle all this, you need to know what power you as a city have and what the state can force you to do. One of the first meetings I came to here, the mayor at the time said, our hands are tied. Well, apparently that's not true. And I don't understand how we could get this far into it. I have an ADU right next door to me, which went through plan check. And the guy that built it is building it. He's wanted a second story of you for years. And this was the door open just slightly, and he could sneak in there and get this done. It's obvious what these people are doing. An auxiliary dwelling unit, I would think, is for an additional family or somebody else, not just another bedroom. But that's what it's turned out to be. So, I mean, do we know what power we have? And can we prevent some of this from happening without thoroughly studying it? I don't think you can do that. I mean, the discussion I hear is that, well, it could be a second story. I mean, this business about is it a garage, is it an ADU? How did it get to the point where you don't know whether it's a garage? It's obvious what he's going to do. You build that garage with no roof on it. Isn't it pretty clear to everybody up here what's going on? It's clear to me. It's as if we don't have procedures to take care of this and to vet these projects and turn the ones down. I mean, the one that's built next to me could have been on the ground floor and not taken two neighbors' views. But the city said, yeah, okay, our hands are tied. Here you go. And this guy who's lived there for 30 years has no more view. And that's probably worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. So I think we need to sharpen our pencil and get a real plan of action here, because I don't see it right now. It's like, well, I don't know. What about you? It's not happening. So I think we need to do that. You need to do that, actually.

Mayor and council members, again, Lauren Cotner. I do not currently live in the Riviera. I grew up in the Riviera. I didn't have a view, but the houses that did, everybody honored that. But I do sell real estate up there, and I sold one. I'm sorry.

Did you speak on this item already? No? Okay.

No, I didn't. I appreciate it.

Sorry about that.

It was earlier on oral. Thank you. about the parking and I just want to say there was a meeting I think we had on May 19th that everybody came out and talked about this kind of ADU thing and all of that stuff and one of the comments was a woman that said her contractor came in and they were trying to figure out how to you know how to add on and he said well we'll just say it's an ADU and we'll take the door out later remember that Remember that, because now it's that big monstrosity that he's talking about. If I were city mayor or city manager, I'd make him take the damn thing down. That's not okay. These people are stealing. It's fraud. They're committing fraud by telling you one thing and doing another. And we need to be, what's the word, more diligent and kind of just go out there. I love the fact that the council members and the mayor went out and looked at the site instead of just looking at pictures. It's different when you're there and you feel it. And like they said, I haven't seen a roof in any of those pictures. So thank you.

Thank you. Okay, anybody else wish to be heard? We wanna make sure you have an opportunity. Okay, I don't see anyone in the council chambers. We'll now take remote participants. Callers can press star nine to raise their hand. Staff, is there anyone that would like to speak? There are no callers, Your Honor. Thank you. At this time, does the council have any questions? Well, you can... Actually, I have a Councilmember Lewis clicked in, so we'll let you go first.

As I was reading and researching this and looking through, I guess, 5 or 6 sets of plans now. The one thing that I never saw was a just the garage by itself was that ever submitted is part of the plan and maybe there was a second set of plans that that separately came with the garage and the 80 you together. There's no set the plans that have just the garage by itself is that correct.

Mayor, council members, Michelle Ramirez, community development director, no. There was no set of plans that just had it by themselves. Staff had suggested that they submit it that way, but they chose not to, and we could not force them to do that.

Okay, so my next question is, let's just say that there's a set of plans for the garage that are, I guess the existing one is 10 1⁄2 feet now. Would that mean under... Without the ADU, the highest that they could build the roof of this garage would be 14 feet.

It would be 14, if it went 14 feet or higher, then it would have to go through a precise plan. If it was under 14 feet, then it's a Minor Hills exemption, which means that I would have the authority to approve it.

Okay, and then the 14 feet, let's just say you put a 14-foot roof on it, that would not necessarily affect the views of the surrounding neighbors, the air light view privacy of the surrounding neighborhood? Or is that hard to determine?

That would be hard to determine. We know the 10 and a half does not because it is lower. But a 14 foot, when you went out there. I thought I read somewhere. So under staffs, in looking at it, would it seem that the hedges are about that high, 14 feet?

OK, that's what I thought, because I'm height restricted. And when I went out there, I thought it was about 14, 16 feet. That that. Roof line could go and then also when I went out there was potential for it to perhaps not only go up in height, but you could widen it out toward the street so the setback is what.

Just to clarify, I'm referring to side your rear front yard right back is 20 feet.

20 feet. Okay. All right. That's what I thought. Thank you.

Before I call on Council Member Shaik, I just want to make a comment for me that I am just not comfortable approving something without a precise plan.

Council Member Shaik? How do you know I was going to say that? Well, thank you for the presentations from both sides. Every situation is different, and I'm very thankful for the community members. They know what the state laws are and how we are bound to that. But this situation is very clear to me what the project they're asking is not what the documents they're presenting. It's very cut and dry to me. They are not telling what they want to do with the project. saying that they just want an approval for the garage. I went to the site. I didn't see any silhouette there. I really didn't see any silhouette to see what the interference from the other neighbors. So I just want to ask a couple questions from the owner of the project, if I may, please. Can you please come to... Could you please explain it to us one more time what the project entails, just in one or two lines?

Yes. So initially when the plans were submitted, my clients were instructed that they could submit the ADU plans and garage plans together, which is what they did. The silhouette is still up. So it is not visible from the front of the house because it is not high enough to be visible from the front of the house. So we are requesting that the garage gets approved as illustrated in the plans. And there have been doors and windows more precisely added for your guys' viewings. And again, they were instructed that they could submit the plans together, which is what they did.

So what do you want to have the height of the garage?

The 10 and a half feet.

The one it is right now?

Correct.

So you're not making any addition to the garage? Just expanding that to make it wider, to make it a three-car garage?

So not wider. It's a triangle in the back. It it's not going to be higher or wider or go out front at all It's just the silhouette in the back that is being added to the garage.

So where is that design?

in the plans that were submitted to the city and we can show you the photos of the silhouette so that you can see but the garage is there and

Okay. Michelle, do you mind? Because I've been going back and forth. I'm not finding the plan or the design for the garage.

Can you point me out the plan? Mayor, Council Members, Michelle Ramirez, Community Development Director, I would like to clarify... i believe your question about the garage being wider it will be from what it is now so they are they are increasing the width of what it currently is so and i believe that was i believe that was your question right right and not whether once it gets built are they then going to widen widen it larger okay right correct yeah so it is it will be going to be wider yes okay yes

All right. So now do we have the plan designed for the garage?

Yes, we do. Yes, we do. Okay. If you're asking...

Sorry, can I step back?

It says a stand-alone plan. Sorry? Is it a stand-alone plan for the garage?

Oh, a stand-alone plan for the garage? Yes. No, it's not.

Okay. So what exactly happened at the Planning Commission meeting? Why did they deny unanimously 7-0? Do you know the reason for that?

My understanding was that they did not consider the roof on the ADU to be considered the roof for the garage, which is why we highlighted the roof plan in the presentation.

But I think they're saying here it was denied because they didn't have the rendering. It was in the document. They did not have the rendering. And I think I still have the same issue. You don't have the rendering. You don't have the plan. And it's pretty... to me that the project is being told and what will be done, it's completely, it's very confusing. And I don't think you guys are doing a good job in explaining the totality of the project. Or you just want the garage?

And Mayor, Council, Michelle Ramirez, Community Director, the plans that the Planning Commission looked at are the same plans that you are looking at. You did not, you're not seeing a garage on its own. The Planning Commission did not see a garage on their own. So they're the same.

Exactly. I read three, four times. So I really think I should, we should give an opportunity for you to submit the design of the garage back, go back to the Planning Commission. Submit exactly what you want to do with this project. If you play with different ways, you're going to confuse us. You're going to confuse your community. I don't think that's the right way to start any project.

I will just highlight that this version is actually more transparent because it shows what's going to be done. If we go back and submit plans, it Because of the ADU laws, you know, they won't be up for public discussion. They will just get approved.

But I mean, again, you're talking about the same thing that my point, you're just making my point that you're talking again about ADU, but you're really trying to sneak ADU into what you want to do. That's what you're doing. Yeah. I think it's not fair what exactly the plan is. Just be very precise. Tell exactly what your plan is and don't play any games. Well, thank you.

Mayor, council members, Michelle Ramirez, community development director. This is a really difficult situation that's very emotional for everybody involved. And it's even trying on staff, too, to try to do what we know the code and the law states and then what potentially could end up at the end of the project. What they've submitted is for a garage, for a tear down and a rebuild of a garage. And the garage will be expanded and larger than it is currently now. Once that garage is completed, then they will be doing an ADU on top of it. I do believe that even if they came back and submitted just the garage plans and went to Planning Commission and they approved it, it's not going to stop them from building that ADU on top. And I think that is very important that the council understands that.

We do. Is it my turn? Please, we shouldn't have comments from the public right now. Thank you.

And I think I agree with you, community development director. Yes, but I think the steps are missing. What's the right process? They have to go through the process.

If they were to submit just the garage, that would not require a precise plan because it wouldn't trigger a precise plan. So that would still be under a minor hillside exemption. Does not mean it can't be appealed, though. It can still be appealed to Planning Commission, can still be appealed to City Council. There are still those rights. But if they were to resubmit, it would still be a minor hillside exemption.

I just make one comment the state laws already are very tough on us and I think we're trying our best to help the community understand what we're after and we putting a lot of information what can we do what we cannot do but projects like that is not helping us to make that case it's just telling us hey just trying to say something and we're going to do something, we're going to sneak things into that. I think that's not fair with the community. That's all I'm saying. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Dr. Gerson.

Thank you. If I can speak to the Council for the Applicant. You seem very knowledgeable, and I want to try and suck some knowledge out of you. So I'm in my third year. I have been through not just city, outside council lessons. And so I understand that light air view, all subjective, very difficult, impossible, in fact, to make objective standards. I understand all of that. But from your perspective, What I'm trying to understand to the process is, for example, we've referred to a minor exemption. Can you explain to me, from your legal understanding, what is a minor exemption? What's the next level of exemption? And what is the actual exemption that's being requested? Because I've been through this thick packet over and over again. I've read our resolution over and over again. So if you could please explain that to me.

Yes, so this household is in the R1 zone, and there are certain requirements. And they include the setback, the light air requirements. And again, they are subjective. But what we're proposing fits within the city's boundaries. The garage meets the setback requirements. It does meet the height requirements. And the garage itself has minimal, if no impact, as the staff report did mention, on the light air impact of the neighboring houses. And that's really what I'm trying to focus on. I understand the frustration in the room. I understand, but They, the gongs are allowed to submit plans together and that's what they did. And that's why we're here. And the plans were submitted. Yeah.

I totally understand. I'm just trying to understand if, if it meets all the requirements, why is an exemption, why is an exemption a conversation? Either it meets it or it doesn't. So I'm trying to understand why, because we have minor exemption. And so I'm trying to understand what is minor, what's the next level, what's a major exemption or whatever it is. And, Why are we using this terminology? Because it's not clearly put out. Do you want to try?

I will try.

Thank you.

Mayor, council members, Michelle Ramirez, Communities Development Director. It's outlined in our Torrance Municipal Code. And it states that if a development is under 14 feet, it's a single story, then it can go through a minor hillside exemption. So it meets our R1 standards. If it was to go above 14 feet, if it was to be a two-story, there's a couple other things that could trigger it, then it has to go through a precise plan. The precise plan would be what would go through the Planning Commission. Regardless if you're going through a minor hillside exemption or a precise plan, they are all appealable. Minor hillside exemption is an administrative approval at my level that can then be appealed to Planning Commission, than to the city council. A precise plan is approval at the planning commission level that then can get appealed to the city council level. This was put into place to assist the hillside overlay as a result of the hillside overlay ordinance to try to assist in protecting light air view privacy to the best of the ability within the standards of the R1 zone. OK.

The piece that I come back to is in our resolution, and this is the line that stands out most to me, whereas at the Planning Commission meeting of January 21st, 2026, a motion to uphold the appeal and denying without prejudice, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, making it very clear that even the Planning Commission did not outright deny say no they said we need more information we're confused as i hear even appear we're confused we need more information and then come back to us am i reading this correctly yes um based upon what i i did read i understand the planning commission's confusion um and um i see no reason at this time to overrule their attempts to understand more My position is please go back to the Planning Commission, help them understand it, and see if after they go through it, if they approve it or deny it, and at which point I assume it'll come back to us. But I don't want to overrule the Planning Commission. I want to give them the opportunity to do their job. And so my position right now is they've left the door open. take advantage of it and, um, and continue the process.

Mayor council members because it's an appeal to the city council, you would either have to make a decision to deny the appeal or approve the appeal and you can do it without prejudice. So then that would give the applicants the ability to then re do the plans. And then because you were the deciding factor, the deciding body, it would actually have to come back to you, not to the planning commission.

So at this point, it cannot return back to them, it has to return to us.

Not unless, um, the project was denied, um, with prejudice and then which case they would have to design the project.

I'm sorry. Excuse me. This is Jennifer Guerrero deputy city attorney. I'm not sure that that's correct. Um, section 7.8 and the rules of order say that the council may close a hearing, continue the hearing, refer the matter to a committee or commission or take other action. It deems reasonable. This is for hearings, so it would be all hearings or appeals. The way I interpret it is that it would apply to an appeal that you could essentially send it back to the Planning Commission and tell the Planning Commission to take further action. If you do that, I would ask that you provide more direction to them, explaining to them what kind of action to take. whether it is to find out about the, you know, getting more details about the roof or clearing up the plans, I would suggest that's what the council do if they decide to not make a decision today.

Okay, thank you.

Did I confuse everyone more?

No. Oh, you did? Okay. No, you did good. Council Member Shaik, you have another comment?

Yes, please.

I'm sorry, were you done, sir?

Yeah, are you done, Councilman Gerson?

Yes.

Thank you. I just want to make a comment. I know that state has mandated to have so many units, close to 5,000 units in our city, which is very tight and we're trying our best. But I think as a neighbor, you have some responsibility. Yes, we are not going to deny every single one because we cannot. I'll just give you a little small analogy. My son, he loves to play basketball. During winter, 6, 7 p.m., he starts playing basketball. My neighbor didn't like it. And yes, he has a right to play basketball, I told him not to play basketball. He hasn't played basketball since then. So it's working with the neighborhood sometimes. It goes a long way. So find alternatives that you can work good with your neighbors and bring a project that will help you and to the community and for the entire city. As a neighbor, you can do these things. With that, I'd like to make a motion to deny the appeal.

We have to close the public hearing.

Yeah, sorry about that. Yeah. Yeah, thank you.

Do any other council members wish to speak? Okay. I'll take a motion to close the public hearing.

I'll make a motion to close the public hearing.

Second.

Start voting, please. Your Honor, that motion carried with Council Members Kartzonis and Liu recused.

Thank you. City Clerk, do we have a number and title for the resolutions, depending upon the motion? We might want to wait.

Yeah. Mayor, Council Members, you might want to wait to see what the decision is first.

Sorry. Perfect, okay. How does the council wish to act on this matter?

I'm gonna try, so thank you for all the parties, thank you for the staff. I think it's pretty cut and dry to me, so I'd like to make a motion to deny the appeal with prejudice, and I think they should go back to square one and go back to the Planning Commission and produce this project.

Excuse me.

Yeah, I think we denied this appeal so they can go back to the planning committee.

You need to leave the with prejudice stopped.

Yes. I thought prejudice means they have to start all over again.

With prejudice means they can't come back.

Okay. Oh, I see.

And I would also ask just for clarification to the attorney, would they not deny it and would they just not send it back? Because... They're denying it, meaning it's done. So you can't deny and send back. So I just want to make sure we approve this correctly. Your motion is correct.

Okay, sure.

Sorry, Jennifer Guerrero, Deputy City Attorney. That is correct. If you want to have the ability to come back, You could continue that you're sending it back to the Planning Commission. So that would be the motion, but you're not denying the appeal. You're just sending it back to the Planning Commission to get more information. You could also continue it for the information to come back to you. Sure.

I'd like to make a motion to send this project back to the Planning Commission.

Okay, looking for a second.

Can we clear that out?

Okay, that doesn't, that doesn't.

Sure.

Anybody else like to make a motion? Council Member Lewis.

I think we need to take this one at a time. Let's deal with the actual motion first, and that is I'm making a motion to deny the appeal.

I'll second that.

Can the director explain? If we deny the appeal, what does that mean if it's just a blanket?

Mayor, council members, Michelle Ramirez, community development director, if you deny the appeal, we will need to bring a resolution back for the denial, but we will need to know the health and safety standards that you are denying this so we can bring back that resolution at the next council meeting.

And just to clarify, denying the appeal means that they can refile

uh additional plans correct as long as you're doing it um without prejudice they can we are doing it without prejudice yes okay yes then you have a second and if they bring it back it would come back to you correct yes not planning correct okay unless it's a new project

If it's a new project that requires them to go through planning because it is a precise plan, then it will go through planning commission first. If it is a continuation of this, then it will come back to us.

So with your denial, it is coming back to us. Correct. And my still second.

start voting please wait a minute looks like we got clarification again sorry can we take a five minute recess sure we're gonna take a five minute recess evidently to clarify are we those votes are already cast so before you ask for the recess since the votes have already been cast can we the votes have not been passed not all council members have voted okay Five-minute recess to clarify.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, we're back in session, and we can move forward with the vote as presented.

Can we get the clarification first?

Can we, you wanna restate the?

Yeah, I just wanna clarify what this motion means, what Councilman Lewis did.

Okay, would you like to restate your motion?

My motion is to deny the appeal of the minor hillside exemption for a 694 square foot attached garage at 439 Via Linda Vista. Without prejudice. Without prejudice. So it can't be refiled again.

This means coming back to the council.

If the applicant wanted to come back to the council, yes.

Okay, thank you.

Your Honor, that motion carries with Council Member Kartzonis and Council Member Liu recused.

Okay, we're going to go ahead and move on to item 10A. I'm going to go get our fellow council members. Okay, we're moving on to item 10A. 10A from the Cultural Arts Commission and Community Services. Is there a staff presentation? Ms. Hart.

Yes, there is. Thank you. Good evening, Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. Monica Hart with Community Services. Item 10A is a recommendation of the Cultural Arts Commission and the Community Services Director that the City Council adopt the resolution approving the application by the CTC Group at the Doubletree by Hilton Torrance South Bay and approve the indemnification agreement for mural artwork. The city received a public art mural application submitted by Linda Amato on behalf of Hilton Torrance South Bay to be installed on the north exterior wall of the building. Next slide, please. Robert Vargas is an American artist internationally renowned for large-scale murals. He's of Mexican descent and was raised in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. Both the City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles have honored him with proclamations naming both September 8th and January 24th Robert Vargas Day. LAUSD has also honored him naming May 12th Robert Vargas Day. Mr. Vargas just returned from a world art tour painting in eight countries, including the third largest mural in all of Italy. The artwork on this slide depicts his mural, Our Lady of Downtown LA in Little Tokyo. Next slide, please. Mr. Vargas is well known for his large-scale murals and is celebrated for his ability to bring communities together through art. This slide showcases two of his humanitarian projects, Gods That Walk Among Us in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and I Am Enough, the second mural in his We Are Human mural series in Los Angeles. Both murals address themes of immigration and diversity, exemplifying his unique approach to artistic diplomacy. Next slide, please. Long Live the King is one of Mr. Vargas' murals featuring rock and roll icons. This mural of Eddie Van Halen is located on the outer wall of the Guitar Center flagship store in Hollywood. Next slide, please. This slide features two of Mr. Vargas' sports murals, the Boyle Heights mural of Fernando Valenzuela, and our local mural, Samurai of the Diamond, on the south side of the hotel building at the Double Tree by Hilton Torrance South Bay. This mural was unveiled on March 24, 2026, and Mr. Vargas was named an Honorary Cultural Ambassador and was presented with the key to the city of Torrance during the unveiling. Next slide, please. Thank you. This depicts the Double Tree by Hilton Torrent South Bay location with the red square illustrating the area of the building slated for the mural. Next slide, please. This shows the north side of the building with the area on which the mural is slated to be produced. Next slide, please. This slide represents the view traveling east on Village Lane towards the Double Tree Hilton. Next slide, please. And this is a view traveling south on Hawthorne Boulevard as you approach Fashion Way on the left and Wells Fargo Bank at Village Lane on the right. Next slide, please. This represents a close-up of the artist's rendering looking south at the area of the building for which the artwork is slated. Next slide, please. And this depicts the view looking south with the rendering on the north side of the building. Next slide, please. Thank you. In November of 2024, the Torrance City Council adopted ordinance number 3941, implementing the city's mural policy. In accordance with policy number four, procedures 5.11, the application for this mural project was reviewed and recommended to the city council by the Cultural Arts Commission using criteria 5.11.1 through 5.11.6 on August 5th, 2026. Next slide, please. The recommendation of the Cultural Services Commission and the Community Services Director is for your honorable body to adopt the resolution and approve the indemnification agreement for mural artwork. Next slide, please. That concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer questions. And also present in chambers for questions are the Economic Development Manager, Fran Fulton, the artist, Robert Vargas, the Doubletree representative, John McGaff, and Discover Torrance Community Relations Director, Debbie Hayes. It's my understanding that we may also have some representatives from the Chargers organization here as well.

Thank you for your presentation. City Clerk, has anyone signed up to speak on this item?

No, Your Honor.

Is there anyone in the council chambers that would like to speak? If so, please step up to the mic and you'll have three minutes.

Good evening, Charlie Salinas again. What an honor and a privilege to have Mr. Robert Vargas back in our city again. You know, there are cities all over the world waiting years for Mr. Vargas to come and do some work on a wall in their city. And here he is back here in Torrance again. I'll tell you what, now that the election is over, I'll tell you how Mr. Vargas really got here in Torrance. We were getting a lot of bad publicity a few years ago. I won't go into detail. We all remember it was horrible. Mr. Vargas, much like the Lone Ranger, said to his longtime faithful companion, Matthew, I think the people of Torrance need our help. And he came to Torrance looking for a wall, and he was going to unite us for a central cause. Everybody loved one another, no matter where you come from or what you do or what you look like. And he took them over a year, and finally he got his wall to work on. Then, after living with us for three weeks, he realized that Torrance isn't at all like it was portrayed, that we do respect each other here in the city. We are all inclusive. We all love one another. We all support one another. And now here he is back again. He just wants to be in Torrance. He loves us. And we love him. I mean, what a wonderful, wonderful man Robert Vargas is. And I'm proud to speak on his behalf. And please let him do his thing. Thank you.

That was a wonderful two minutes. Thank you. Yes, sir.

Good evening, Mayor, Councilmembers, Torrance residents. My name is Dal Tran. My family owns the Vietnamese restaurant in the Village Delamo Plaza, just a few steps down from the Doubletree Hotel. My family, we've been in Torrance since 1986. So we're proud and honored to be part of the city in this plaza. And we were extremely happy when we saw the Samurai of the Diamond Dodgers mural being painted by world-renowned artist Vargas a few months ago. It's already been a major impact for the community, I'm sure, as you all know. But now that the LA Chargers, Robert Vargas, and the DoubleTree Hotel have all agreed to move forward with a new Chargers mural, I think with zero cost to the city, this is a rare opportunity that we cannot miss. With both murals in place, this plaza and the city can become a true year-round destination that can keep visitors coming, thereby support local businesses and bring real economic benefits to the city and the community. So this is a total win-win for us. So I respectfully ask the mayor and council members to fully support this project. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Council and our Mayor. Mr. Vargas, thank you so much for being here again this evening and for agreeing to contribute your talents. I'll keep this short and sweet. Pablo Picasso once said, art is just another way of keeping a diary. So thank you, Mr. Vargas, for contributing to Torrance's living diary and for making our city the cultural, vibrant gem of the South Bay that it is. I hope you all approve the project. Thanks. Thank you.

Anyone else in council chambers that wishes to speak? Okay, I see none. We will now take remote participants. Callers can press star nine to raise their hand. Staff, is there anyone online that would wish to speak?

There are no callers, Your Honor.

Okay, thank you very much. Any questions from the council? Just real quick, I'd like to say thank you. Thank you, Mr. Vargas. Thank you for your vision. Thank you for your beliefs in support of the city of Torrance. We're so glad you're here and to the Doubletree Hotel as well. Thank you for supporting beautiful artwork in our city. Council Member Lewis, you requested to speak.

I do. Ms. Hart. Now let me preference my statement that I'm getting ready to make with, I love the Dodgers, I love the Chargers, and I love Justin, okay? How long is his contract for?

I'm sorry, how long is the contract for?

No, how long is Justin Herbert's contract with the Chargers for? If we need to get somebody from the Chargers up, let me...

I'm seeing five more years.

What happens in year six? What happens in year six if you don't resign him? If I'm, if I'm,

If we can ask for the speakers to come to the microphone, please.

Yeah, can we have somebody to come to? My concern is, and I'm planning on approving, let's have Mr. Vargas tell me what his creative solution would be if, let's just say, he hits the billion dollar lottery on Friday and says, I'm done with this. What happens?

First off, thank you so much for hearing me out. And it's so great to see you guys. I have great memories with all of you here. it's more about the I think the spirit of just, just like the semi of the diamond mural. I mean, a lot of people were asking me why Roki up on top? Why not Otani up on top? And that's because it was about the collective really, or even this mural, it's, it's really about the unity of la football fans and people i'm excited about just football here i think this opens the the the door to possible charity work that could happen um stuff with little league foundations um it's more about that than i think it's really about one player You know, and it doesn't have his name on it. You know, it has his number. We know who it is. But, you know, he's wearing his helmet, and I wanted to capitalize on the fact that we do know who he is, but also it's more about the spirit of just of the sport.

Okay. That suffices because you're saying, and I know that it will be great, and like I said, I'm I've got a Chargers jersey at home too, but I just want to make sure that it's going to be a long-term mural project, and I just want to make sure that it maintains its relevancy throughout the project.

And I think part of the connection that I have with the Chargers is wanting to, and if I can say, having the key to the city here, that one mural that I painted was never about a one-off project. It was about wanting to contribute and actually follow through and bring more opportunity to this community that I really fell in love with. And this project was something that I thought would be perfect. And especially since SoFi is home to not only the chargers, and there's a new shuttle going to to the charges from what I understand from Ms. Turner, but also the Super Bowl is coming up and I just thought this would be a great, perfect storm and an opportunity for my relationship with the Chargers to bear fruit here in Torrance.

Absolutely and the Chargers have been I will put that on record the Chargers have been really great partners to the city of Torrance and also great partners to discover Torrance and the Torrance Chamber of Commerce. So we appreciate the partnership that we've established with the Chargers and happy that you're allowing this artwork to come to the city of Torrance. Yes.

And also, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how important it is to have a partner like Mr. Koo and the Double Tree Hotel, who is really at the forefront of wanting to really make a splash. And although, yes, this would be good for the hotel, it's good for the whole community. Everybody in the area is benefiting from this. And I even have some incredible analytics because this mural is also going to have a QR code like the other mural where you scan and the mural animates. The numbers for that, because every time someone scans, I know where that phone is coming from. And we have about, up until this past Friday, 22,201 scans on that QR code, 14,000 from the United States. And they're, not only coming from Japan and the United Kingdom, but also 2,000 from Torrance, 1,200 from Seattle, 320 from Chicago, 181 from Anaheim, all over Los Angeles and Orange County. And I think that's great.

Mister Vargas can you leave us that's what the city manager because he's trying to you know copy them all down. Yeah, you just leave it absolutely but know that that's absolutely incredible and before you leave us so want to give a shout out to a Linda motto and of course John McGaugh without their support in spearheading this. you know, straight to our cultural services division with Monica, it wouldn't happen. So very excited. Can't wait to see, to come out and watch you do it again in the parking lot.

Thank you. Yes.

Thank you. Council Member Kartonis.

Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to say I had met Mr. Vargas before at the after party to the previous one. I can vouch for Mr. Salinas that you are a terrific person and it's a honor to have you here um he must be right that we love something about torrance to stick it out this late in the evening with us someone of your caliber just hanging out and the and the charges here uh representatives here as well so thank you for for sticking it out with us for this um I just also, you know, I wanted to say what everyone else had already said, but the Doubletree is really just an example for the rest of our community. We are super excited for public art here in the city of Torrance. This is a perfect example of stuff that we want to see. Thank you for bringing your talents to our city. Amato, McAfee, Koo, all you guys, thank you so much for everything you have done to bring this forward. And I'm excited to see it come together.

Thank you. Thank you, David. I would plan on working on it as early as next week, just like the summary of the diamond mural where I unveiled it just before the opening of the season. I kind of imagined the same thing for this mural, so somewhere around September 8th. and let's do it again. Let's bring the world back to Torrance ahead of the Olympics and everything coming up, but really get ahead of it all.

Thank you, Council Member Schick.

Mr. Vargas, welcome back to Torrance. You should move out here in Torrance.

I'm working on it.

Well, I really want to thank you for your love for the city of Torrance. And one thing that resonates with me when you had the last Dodgers, that you respected a lot to your mother. She's my hero. I cannot thank you enough. I had my kids with me, and they saw how much you were respecting your mother. That was really priceless. So we appreciate your passion, your love for our city, and what you're doing for our city. Thank you. This question is keep on bothering me. I'm going to ask staff a question. But this was passed with a 4-2 vote from the cultural commission.

Right? He was a Rams fan. Oh. That's what it was. I don't have to ask. That's what it was. That's what it is? Honestly, that's what it was.

Oh, my god. I just don't get it. OK. I just don't get it. I have lost my sleep over that. I don't know what happened. Maybe that is the case. But again, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Just a question from the staff about the indemnification for the city, like Councilwoman Lewis was alluding earlier, if something happens to the player. Are we on the hook for any reason, royalty, anything, lawsuit, anything? I mean, we asked the same question last time as well. We just want to make sure that we are still not on the hook for anything.

Jennifer Guerrero, deputy city attorney. Councilman, that's the point of the indemnification agreement is to make sure that the city doesn't have any potential liability. We do have the charge, it's a little bit different from the Dodgers because we do have the Chargers representatives here and they're involved. Yeah, the indemnification is exactly the same as what was presented with the dog.

Yeah, just for the record, I just want to bring it to the attention. But again, it's an honor to see you again. Hopefully, see you again. And you let us talk to you the next time as well. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else on the council wish to speak? Okay, city clerk, we have a number in title.

Yes, Your Honor. This is resolution number 2026-75, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Torrance, California, approving a recommendation of the Cultural Arts Commission of a public art mural application as provided for in Division 9, Chapter 11, Article 11 of the Torrance Municipal Code on property located within the Hawthorne Boulevard corridor. Specific Plan Del Amo Business Sub-District 1 H-DA1 Zone at 21333 Hawthorne Boulevard.

Thank you. I'll take a motion to concur with the recommendation of the Cultural Arts Commission and Community Services Director. Please motion to adopt both items. So moved.

No, I hit the button. I've been waiting. I've been waiting since everyone started talking. Mr. Vargas, in case you hadn't noticed, I don't like to talk very much, but I did make the motion to your last one. Before I make the motion, I just please thank Mr. Ku. And thank you to the Chargers organization, especially for coming out tonight. We appreciate you. And Mr. Vargas, we appreciate you. So I will make the motion to do the two items as the city clerk said, which includes resolution 2026-75.

And I'll proudly second it.

Start voting, please. Your Honor, that motion carried unanimously.

Congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you guys. And my vision for this corridor is really to be a cultural destination for the arts. And I'm pleased to contribute to that. So thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. Okay, there are no agency agendas, so we'll move on to oral communication number two. This portion of the meeting is reserved for comments on items that are not on the agenda. Under the Ralph M. Brown Act, City Council cannot act on items raised during public comment, but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed, request clarification, or refer the item to staff. Speakers under orals are limited to either oral communication one or oral communication number two, and no longer than three minutes per speaker. For in-person participants, time starts when you step up to the microphone. If presenting handout material to council, please provide 11 copies to the city clerk before speaking. Handouts will be distributed while you speak. In accordance with California Senate Bill 707, the city has implemented remote public participation through Zoom to provide members of the public with an additional option to address the city council during public comments. Members of the public attending remotely may call in by dialing 1-669-444-9171. Callers can press star 9 to raise their hand if they would like to speak. When the last four digits of your number is called, you will be prompted to unmute. Telephone participation should press star 6 to unmute before speaking. City Clerk, has anyone signed up to speak?

No, Your Honor.

Thank you. Is there any other member of the public that wishes to speak that has not already spoken in oral comments? Please step up to the mic. I see no one. We'll now take remote participants. Callers can press star nine to raise their hand. Staff, has anyone signed up to speak? There are no callers, Your Honor. Okay, thank you. So we're gonna go ahead with council comments and we'll start with council member Liu. Is there anything you'd like to say during orals?

Sure, I wanna say that last week, the International Asian American Business Expo had their expo and ceremony at our Torrance Marriott Hotel. The event was hosted by the Coalition of Filipino American Chambers of Commerce. It brought in a lot of people, including entrepreneurs, council generals of many countries, and business leaders for two days of engagement and opportunity. I'm very pleased that the organizers chose Torrance to be the host city. and it shows that our city continues to be a destination for businesses, both local and global, global. And then I also want to add that my colleagues, Council Member Parsonis and Council Member Sheik were also there and that was a wonderful event. I hope that they come back and more chambers of commerce would host their events here in Torrance. A second item is that I'm very happy to state that our Torn City Association, Torn City Sister City Association is Kashiwa and they sent over, they sent over their exchange students here last week. I believe they're still here because the banquet will happen this coming week, but they had performances for us and they are, enjoying Disneyland, and they are going to check out many other places here in Torrance and in Los Angeles. I think that a lot of my colleagues were also there at the Kashiwa celebration, and I will let them talk about it some more. You guys can just go ahead and say you were there.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Council Member Schick.

Thank you, Mayor. On August the 2nd, there was a pipe leak on Crenshaw Boulevard. And a few people reached out to me and I shared that with our city manager that they were very pleased how quickly that was repaired. And the community members were very pleased how efficient our staff was. And one of them just sent a text to me that, Thank you to our staff for their quick response and for getting the situation under control so efficiently. So I'd like to thank our staff for taking care of that so efficiently. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your hard work. Also, this was a busy week. Mayor Kalani, you were missed. We handed out a lot of certificate of recognition to the events that Councilwoman Betty Liu attended. And I think the second day, Councilman Gerson was with us as well on that event. So it was a very busy week.

We also had the tryst.

also Nomad at that wonderful event that we hosted for the Tristan International, one of the best artist-run exhibition in the world. So we were there. And the person, the people they invited us to the coalition of Filipino-American were Jerry and his wife, Ellen. You met with them. They were very – they missed you. They wanted me to let you know that you were missed. We also had – I think we missed Councilwoman's birthday. We had your birthday as well, right? You were not missed.

Yes, I turned 25 again.

For the last 50 years.

Yes.

Happy birthday.

Thank you.

Well, thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Gertson.

Oh, my gosh. Councilmember Shaikh kind of indicated that it's been an exhausting couple of weeks. I think you missed a very important event. We also attended Pakistani Independence Day. That particular day, especially with the mayor out, so Councilmembers Shaikh, Kartonis, and I showed up at Wilson Park, did some pictures and some photographs, and then Council Member Shaikh asked them to hold the parade for us, and the three of us hopped in the car and went over to the event that Council Member Liu had told you about. We met with the There were a couple of council generals that we took pictures with, and then the nice announcement that, you know, we're waiting for the Filipino Chamber of Commerce in Torrance. Did some more, as you said, certificates, and then hopped in the car to rush back, and literally as we walk up, they stick us right into the... They were waiting to start the parade for us, and then, yeah, continued the night. And it's been like that pretty much every day, and so thank you. I can... Not only has it been more fun since we have Mayor Kalani, but just to share with the public, the entire third floor where the council is has changed so much. And I haven't even shared this with the city manager's office, but my first two years here, I had to make an appointment and then it would either be in the council conference room or in a director's office. But in the last two weeks, People have wandered into our offices and just the entire vibe on the third floor is so different. And I have been enjoying it and having a great time. And I love the energy that all of you bring because this job has been more fun since the changeover. So thank you. And then there have been a lot of community meetings, which I won't go over. But we had National Night Out. Um, actually, so I had to start at, uh, I was there for about 90 minutes and then I had to go to Hickory park and spend another, it was a little over 90 minutes over there. Um, you know, two popular locations in D six for a national night out. So yes, it's been fun. It's been exhausting and I'll pass it back to you. Thank you. Good night.

Thank you so much. Council Member Kartzonis.

Thank you very much, Mayor. As the other council members had alluded to, it has been a very busy few weeks. It has been a wild ride since the election. I'm loving every minute of it. It has been a lot of fun, and we have done a lot of stuff. National Night Out, I want to thank the Torrance Police Department for putting together a great event. I know District 1 had a great turnout, had a lot of fun. So really appreciate all the work you did there, as well as our residents that hosted us and put out a bouncy house for the kids. And we had tons of neighborhood kids there, a lot of neighbors. It was a lot of fun. It was fantastic.

Are you sure it was just for the kids?

Yeah, I did not jump in the bouncy house, but it was fun. Pakistani events times two. We had two fantastic Pakistani Independence Day events, one here at our Cultural Arts Center and then one at Wilson Park. Big big thanks to our Community services department for making that all happen our police department for ensuring the safety of both those events it was fantastic I Felt like a honorary Pakistani for the day. So it was a it was a lot of fun to be there as part of it. I did jokingly say that We were in LaHorance for the night there in Wilson Park. It was a lot of fun. We have had delegates from Kashiwa, Japan here. That has been fantastic, getting to know these really awesome kids. We gave a tour of City Hall, which was a lot of fun. that got up and danced with them. I'm the only council member that got up and danced with them, so I'm gonna encourage my colleagues to get up and line dance next time.

You were the only one to line dance, but all of us who were there all did the Koshua.

That's true. That's true. I take it back. I take it back. And I got the opportunity to climb up to a crow's nest on a tall ship with some of our Koshua delegates. So that was a lot of fun as well. I know they're having a great time, and we're having a great time having them here. Tristan Nomad was a lot of fun to have here. And then the International Asian American Expo... The International Asian American Business Expo was fantastic. There were so many council generals there. It was fantastic, and we're honored to have them choose our city to host it in. So it was a busy week.

Difficult you do all this when you turn 50. I'll see you next week.

Yeah. Thank you. If there was anything left, Council Member Lewis, and happy birthday again, belated birthday. She's got nothing. I hope that everybody can see the energy that's here on the council. I think that we're just experiencing teamwork, community, unity. Tonight, what we experienced with welcoming the Indian American community to our council meeting and their celebration was just something very, very inspiring. I'd invite all of you that are listening to download the MyTorrents app, go on the website and watch all of the wonderful events that are going on. There's a lot. Right now we have Frozen, we've got our concerts in the park, and much, much more. So we're here for you, and we look forward to continuing to work together. Thank you. At this time, we're now going to recess back into closed session at 10 o'clock exactly. And we appreciate you all. Thank you.

Thank you. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

you

Bye. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye. Bye. Thank you. Thank you.

Hello again. We're now going to reconvene our city council meeting at 1143 p.m. And as we conclude this evening's meeting, we want to thank you for your active participation and interest in staying informed. I will take a motion to adjourn.

Your Honor, just for record, there's nothing to report. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Kartzonis.

Mayor, I move that we adjourn the City Council meeting to Tuesday, August 18th, 2026 at 5 p.m. for a closed session in the Leroy J. Jackson Council Chamber.

Second.

Start voting, please. That motion carries with Council Member Sheik voting no.

Unbelievable.

Thank you, goodnight.

Goodnight.