City to Withdraw From MAX Bus Line

Riders of MAX buses in Rancho Palos Verdes will soon have to find other means of transportation, after the City Council voted Tuesday to withdraw the city's participation in the commuter bus line, effective June 30.

City staff recommended council members vote to reaffirm an earlier decision to withdraw from MAX, based on future and current costs to the city, as it also funds Palos Verdes Peninsula Transit Authority.

City staff warned of possible costs to replace buses in the future, estimated at about $300,000, in addition to the costs of refurbishing them. Proposition A, a half-cent sales tax in the county, which now funds the city's public transportation, would not adequately cover both MAX and PVPTA, according to staff reports.

Councilman Anthony M. Misetich said he was unsettled by the difficulty in obtaining support from other agencies for an audit of MAX to ensure the city's ridership correlated with its percent share of MAX costs.

"In government, we try to be as transparent as we can," he said. "Unfortunately, there are some questions with the governance of MAX and basically how they conduct their business and accounting."

Councilman Stefan Wolowicz said PVPTA is audited on an annual basis and the city receives copies of those financial statements.

Misetich also expressed concern for liabilities to the city, even if it were to withdraw.

Mayor Tom Long said continued participation in MAX would not be "reasonable."

"It's disappointing at any time ... to be cutting back on transit services," he said. "It does not appear to be a cost-effective use of our money.

"We really can't even get the information we need ... to assure us we will be getting a cost-effective use of taxpayer money in the future."

Councilman Douglas Stern said he's optimistic the city can work to fill the gap in service so people's lives are not disrupted significantly.

Long said he wanted to see more mass transit in the city, and Wolowicz said coordination with the PVPTA would likely begin soon.

"We should get out of this group," Stern said of MAX.

Limits on home sizes

Council members also voted against a staff recommendation to reject a floor-area ratio—a maximum structure size proposal—for residential property in the city.

The council voted to have city staff study floor-area ratio, or FAR, as an addition to a neighborhood compatibility review process already in place to regulate residential construction and preserve the character of existing neighborhoods.

Without an established FAR, Long said, "we essentially are saying we have no vision of the upper bounds of density in this city."

Other South Bay cities that use FAR include Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Redondo Beach, Lomita, El Segundo and Torrance.

Stern said the ratios might be a step backward for the city and better suited in cities with more density.

"I think it's a bad way to move," he said.