City Rejects Developer’s Court Plan

A developer’s plan to place a courtroom facility in his Crenshaw Boulevard office building has been rejected by the Torrance City Council in a 4-2 vote.

Developer Jerry Conrow had hoped to rent space to the Los Angeles County courts in Park Beyond the Park, a 126,700-square-foot office building at 1880 S. Crenshaw Blvd. But his plans ran afoul of city regulations that required more parking space than his building could accommodate. The city created parking requirements to cover courts after Conrow sought to lease space in Park Beyond the Park to the court system.

The Planning Commission had already ruled against using the building for courtrooms. On Tuesday, Conrow appealed to the council, saying that his building faces foreclosure.

His arguments failed to persuade a majority of council members, who voted to deny his appeal. Neighbors of the project had submitted petitions opposing the courtroom plan because of fears of increased traffic and that it would “introduce an unwanted element that would create a blight on this growing, basically residential neighborhood.”

Conrow has maintained that the city created the parking regulations to thwart his effort to rent space to the county.