New Plan for Wetlands Heading to Commission

A new zoning plan that would govern development in southeast Long Beach and facilitate preservation of the Los Cerritos Wetlands is heading to the California Coastal Commission for final approval next year, according to city officials.

Known as the Southeast Area Specific Plan (SEASP), the proposal attempts to replace a more than 40-year-old zoning ordinance over an area spanning nearly 1,500 acres along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) with a community-driven vision to balance the need for new development and preservation of an environmentally-sensitive natural habitat.

The SEASP, which was unanimously approved by the Long Beach City Council in September last year, has been amended after the City of Long Beach settled two lawsuits that challenged the plan’s compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and adequacy in protecting the wetlands. The two appellants were the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust and the Long Beach Citizens for Fair Development.

The city is expected to submit the amended SEASP zoning documents to the California Coastal Commission in January 2019 for review and final approval, according to Chelsey Finegan, spokesperson for Long Beach Development Services. She confirmed that “there is currently no outstanding litigation” on the matter as both parties have settled their lawsuits against the city. A final hearing by the state commission on the SEASP is tentatively scheduled for summer 2019.

As opposed to the previous zoning ordinance, once known as the Southeast Area Development and Improvement Plan (SEADIP), which prohibits residential uses in most areas and caps building heights at 35 feet, the SEASP would allow for mixed-use developments, including new commercial and residential buildings of up to five stories high.

More specifically, the new plan would allow for development of new residential units, new hotel rooms and commercial space, according to documents released last year. The plan would also establish a “coastal habitat wetlands and recreation” land-use category, allowing for wetlands restoration efforts, interpretive centers or visitor-serving uses.

Initially, the SEASP allowed for seven-story building heights on proposals that include a hotel use and that provide an “additional extraordinary public benefit,” such as a public park, recreational facility or performance venue. However, the city has agreed, as part of its settlement with appellants, to add clarification that buildings would be capped at five stories, according to an announcement released in August by the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust.

Elizabeth Lambe, executive director for the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, stated in the announcement that the settlement was reached by working collaboratively with the City of Long Beach and provides “clarity about SEASP’s intent with respect to wetland buffers and wetland protection, and clarity that there will be a height limit of 5 stories, down from 7 stories.”

“Of great importance to us was that there be better and more science-based wetlands buffer protection around Los Cerritos Wetlands,” she said. “This settlement and the proposed clarifications will be submitted along with the updated SEASP for Coastal Commission consideration. The Coastal Commission has the authority to make additional changes in furtherance of the Coastal Act.”

Lambe said the Land Trust will be able advocate for further improvements to the plan, especially wider and more robust buffers, once it goes before the Coastal Commission for final approval next year.

“Given all the new housing and retail, not to mention traffic, robust buffers are critical to protecting fragile habitat from all the stressors of nearby human activity and other consequences of urban life,” she said.

Further, Lambe said the Land Trust “heartily” approves of provisions in the new SEASP that include “bird-safe measures, creation of a wetlands mitigation fund, and native plant landscaping,” adding that the environmental group hopes to request further improvements to the plan.

“We look forward to advocating for even more improvements as the plan gets reviewed through the lens of the Coastal Act and before the Coastal Commission,” she said.

Meanwhile, the City Council at its meeting on Oct. 2 unanimously approved a new set of amendments to SEADIP in order to facilitate a separate project that involves major restoration of the Los Cerritos Wetlands and consolidation of oil operations over four parcels on more than 150 acres.

The new zoning changes come after the Coastal Commission approved amendments to the city’s Local Coastal Program (LCP) on Aug. 8 to allow for the project that includes two new oil production areas, a wetlands restoration program, a new visitor’s center, and clarification of requirements for oil production areas, according to city staff.

The project, proposed by Synergy Oil & Gas or Beach Oil Minerals Partners (BOMP), involves phasing out oil drilling facilities over the next 44 years on nearly 183 acres of property (bounded by Pacific Coast Highway, 2nd Street, Studebaker Road and the San Gabriel River) and consolidating oil wells to two off-site locations and drilling nearly 120 new oil wells.

In a “land swap” deal, Synergy has agreed to transfer ownership of approximately 156 acres of property to be restored as wetlands in exchange for a 5-acre parcel owned by the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority located at Studebaker Road and Westminster Avenue.

The oil operator would use a 7-acre parcel, known as the “Pumpkin Patch” site located on Pacific Coast Highway, for drilling new wells and building a two-story office building and warehouse. Oil operations on a 33-acre parcel owned by the City of Long Beach are to be phased out as part of the project.

The project would also create a “mitigation bank” that would allow the oil operator to receive credits for restoring 76 acres of wetlands that could then be sold for development interests, a proposal that would require separate approvals from the city and other regulatory agencies.

According to city staff, the Coastal Commission is expected to conduct a hearing on the a proposed consolidated coastal development permit (CDP) for the project by the end of the year.

sean@beachcomber.news