Seal Beach RV, Boat Storage Site Might Be Rezoned for 90 Homes

Despite objections from a number of residents Wednesday night, a Seal Beach RV and boat storage business got the preliminary OK on a zoning change that would allow 20 to 33 homes per acre on the 4-acre piece of property along a busy city road.

The City Council voted 4-1 to rezone the land owned by Accurate Storage at 1011 Seal Beach Boulevard, changing the property's classification from light industrial to high-density residential.

According to staff, the move would help the city comply with state law that requires at least 21 more units zoned in Seal Beach.

The decision doesn’t become law until 30 days after a second vote on the matter.

In many cities a second vote would be a formality, however, that may not be the case this time, as Seal Beach councilmembers also asked staff to look into the possibility of using, instead, a separate piece of Boeing property along Westminster Avenue currently used as a parking lot.

During public comments, residents raised a number of objections to the Accurate Storage zone change, including that it would lower property value, would increase local traffic in the area and wouldn’t be a good fit with surrounding uses.

“I think we should keep it a small town atmosphere,” said resident Lou Hamilton. “I think high density, there’s enough of that already.” 

In contrast, Bill Irke, attorney and spokesman for the property owner, called the proposal a “win-win situation” for the city and for the property owner.

“We are here in support of staff’s recommendations action that would rezone the entire property at the entire 20 dwelling units per acre,” Irke said.

City staff said the maximum number of homes the property could hold would be about 90, and Irke said there’s no plans to build out the property to the full amount.

According to city staff, the zoning change would fit in with the surrounding uses: the properties to the north and west are developed with parking lots and office/light industrial uses, and the city police and public works facilities  sit to the south.

In the staff report, city employees noted three other potential sites for newly zoned homes: the Marina Park expansion site along 1st Street, Sunset Aquatic Park and the Boeing parking lots along Westminster Avenue.

Mayor Pro Tem Ellery Deaton, who cast the sole dissenting vote Wednesday night, said she was opposed to 90 homes on the property.

“It’s not small town,” Deaton said. “I’m all about the small town.”

Deaton said she hoped the city would be able to use the Boeing parking lot instead, but she knew that time was of the essence. Deaton added she hadn’t known the zoning change would allow for 90 homes when the Council voted on the matter in 2012.

Mayor Gary Miller agreed that they’d been working on the project a while, but said they had already decided to use the land.  

“We unanimously picked this particular property,” Miller said. “We were going to rezone four acres. I never thought it was anything other than 90.”

The board of the Seal Beach Animal Care Center, a site which borders Accurate Storage, submitted a letter of opposition to the zone change.

“The addition of up to 90 new residences that close to our shelter will most likely lead to an increase in complaints about noise and dogs,” reads the letter. “We are also concerned about the impact on parking on Adolfo Lopez Drive as result of the addition of ninety new residences.”

Afterward the night’s vote, a center board member said she had mixed feelings about the Council’s decision to cast a preliminary “Yes” for the zone change and unanimous “yes” vote for staff to look into using the Boeing property.

“We would have liked to see them not go this far, but we’re very happy to see that they’re willing to consider the Boeing alternative,” said Dee Carey, a member of the center’s board of directors.

Resident Rick Bennett, a business owner, said he found the whole process “convoluted” and that he was “dissatisfied with the result.”

“It’s going to affect our property values, increase traffic, decrease income tax for the city,” Bennett said.

He added that he had hoped they would consider, instead, rezoning the former land owned by Department of Water and Power at the northwestern end of the city.

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