Shopping Center Plan Is on Hold

A proposal to turn an El Camino College parking lot into a shopping center has been set aside indefinitely by college trustees.

With little discussion, trustees voted 4-0, with trustee Del Fox absent, not to proceed with any of three development proposals presented to them last month.

Proposals had called for building a shopping center on the 1,100-space lot at Crenshaw and Redondo Beach boulevards and using profits from the development to build 2,000 spaces in parking structures elsewhere on campus.

“It may be premature for the district to make a long-term commitment for the use of that property other than for education or other district purposes,” said Donald Sorsabal, vice president for administrative services.

Administrators began studying the idea in July after a builder said developing the lot would produce enough revenue to build twice as many parking spaces and turn a profit for the college.

Nearby residents, however, complained that students would not use the new structures because of safety concerns, forcing even more parking off campus into neighborhoods already crowded with cars.

Trustees began to shy away from the idea when three separate developers each proposed leasing the land for at least 50 years.