Planning Commission to Tackle DWP Project

Tonight, the Seal Beach Planning Commission will consider the most controversial project to come before the city in years.

A standing-room only crowd is expected at tonight’s planning meeting, as commissioners consider plans to build 48 homes on the former DWP property, the city’s last remaining coastal open space.

In early May, the commission put off a vote on the project while signaling dissatisfaction with the proposal.

On Tuesday, the Press-Telegram reported that the California State Lands Commission had sent a letter to the city “advising that part of the DWP site is under public trust,” which could complicate efforts to develop public trust property reserved for open space, habitat protection and water-related recreation and commerce.

Bay City Partners, the group that owns the 10.7 acres at First Street and Marina Drive had submitted last-minute changes to the project in response to the city’s staff report and after two city committees already rejected the project. The changes didn’t give city staffers or planning commissioners enough time to study the new proposal, they said at the time.

Still, the commissioners identified a number of aspects of the project they didn’t like - namely, the high density of the 25-foot–wide lots and plans to designate less than 70 percent of the parcel for public open space as called for in the city’s Specific Plan. Bay City Partners is looking to have the city approve zoning and land-use changes for the property (from hotel or motel to residential) as well as an environmental impact report for the project.

“How much do we have to compromise? Do we have to compromise on both the development type and the open space? I am willing to compromise on the development type, but I am not willing to compromise on the 70/30 (open space to housing ratio), and I don’t see why we should,” said Planning Commissioner Robert Goldberg said at the last meeting. Goldberg said the city is entitled to more open space.

The project has a long and complicated history. Formerly owned by the Department of Water and Power, the city has spent decades planning for its use and hundreds of residents offered community input. Ultimately, the property was zoned for open space and visitor uses such as restaurants, shops or a hotel. The city had several opportunities to buy the land and preserve it as open space but never did for lack of money. Bay City Partners bought the property but quickly decided that a hotel on the property would not be economically feasible.

They came up with plans for high density housing and quickly ended up in dueling lawsuits with the city that cost upwards of $1 million dollars and ended last year with a settlement agreement in which the developers would give the city 6.5-acres for open space and access to a bike trail and the First Street parking lot if the project is approved. In exchange for the open space, access and a sewer easement, the city will pay Bay City Partners nearly $2 million and give the developers about 7,000 square feet of roadway along First Street.

The Planning Commission meeting is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night at City Hall, 211 Eighth St.