Torrance to Study Center’s Impact

Torrance planners will conduct an environmental review of the city’s Cultural Arts Center in an attempt to defuse a lawsuit that charges they did not properly study the impacts of the complex before starting construction.

Planning director David Ferren said the environmental assessment will analyze existing information about the complex so staff members can decide whether a complete environmental impact report is needed.

The city has contended that such a report was not required because original plans for the complex were filed in 1965, six years before passage of the California Environmental Quality Act, which requires such reviews.

Developer Jerry Conrow last month filed suit to stop construction of the $12.2-million arts center, which broke ground in February, charging that the city’s failure to study the project’s impacts has caused severe parking problems in the already crowded Civic Center.

Ferren said the environmental assessment should be ready for consideration by a five-member staff panel within a few weeks. If the panel decides a full report is not necessary, that decision can be appealed to the City Council.