El Segundo recruit center is OK’d – The Daily Breeze
Friday, August 15th, 2008This will be located two blocks West of Sepulveda on Grand Ave. I thought we were moving the industrial out of the residential sections? This is brought to us by the same people who brought us El Segundo Plaza.
El Segundo recruit center is OK’d – The Daily Breeze By Andrea Woodhouse, Staff Writer
A divided El Segundo City Council has approved a 33,000- square-foot facility on the west side of town where new military recruits would receive medical and written examinations.
Despite a handful of complaints that the Grand Avenue building would be too close to homes, increase armed services recruitment in schools and unleash youth into the community during their last nights as civilians, the council signed off on the development Tuesday in a 3-1 vote.
“These are recruits who have made a decision to better themselves and serve their country,” Councilman Eric Busch said. “Why wouldn’t we want them here? These are exactly the kind of people we want in our neighborhood.”
The privately built, government-leased Military Entrance Processing Station would bring up to 200 young recruits daily to the city for medical, psychological and intellectual assessments, said Lt. Col. Dave Philips, the facility’s commander.
The youth – aspiring to join all military branches – would be shuttled from a Los Angeles hotel to the facility at 1700 Grand Ave., about a block west of bustling Sepulveda Boulevard, he said.
An entity of South Bay developer Mar Ventures, which backed the large-scale shopping center Plaza El Segundo, will build the processing station and lease it to the Department of Defense for 15 years, President Allan Mackenzie said.
Because a government facility would not pay the city a business license tax that would be required of any other establishment, Mackenzie sweetened the proposal by offering El Segundo $500,000 to make up the difference.
“We believe that more than compensates for the loss of business license tax,” he told the council.
Developers believe the project is a good fit for El Segundo, which historically has enjoyed a close relationship with the military as home of the Los Angeles Air Force Base and a handful of large aerospace companies.
“(This project) continues your support of the military – this is a critical project for them,” Mackenzie said.
But some residents worried its presence, especially adjacent a largely residential area, would bring the military too close to home.
Others feared the facility would be a target for terrorism or increase recruitment activity in the city’s schools.
“(The facility) is opening up further militarism of the west side of town,” said Jennifer Rosen, an Acacia Avenue resident.
But the majority of the dozen or so speakers Tuesday at the packed meeting, which spilled out into a City Hall lobby filled with folding chairs, supported the project.
Many spoke of the city’s patriotic duty to support military recruits, especially in light of the jobs, money and other benefits the city has enjoyed through its relationship with the armed services.
“If men and women who don’t even know us are willing to step up and fight for our freedom, I think we should line up to shake their hands,” said resident Don McIlroy. “We should accommodate them the best we can.”
But not all council members were convinced.
Councilman Carl Jacobson dissented, calling the development’s required zone change “spot zoning.”
Mayor Kelly McDowell also opposed the facility’s location, but abstained from the vote.
According to the developer’s timeline, construction should begin in September with occupancy of the facility by July 2009.
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