Seal Beach won’t have to pay for the cost of responding to the letter from the organization known as Seal Beach for Open Space, according to City Manager Jill Ingram. She said Bay City Partners has agreed to pay for the cost of the Environmental Impact report.
On Jan. 9, a law firm hired by the group known only as Seal Beach for Open Space sent a letter to Director of Development Mark Persico, challenging the Draft of the Environmental Impact Report for the Bay City Partners’ proposed project for the land once owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Bay City Partners have asked that the site plan be changed to allow residential housing. The site plan currently calls for 70 percent open space and a hotel on the remaining 30 percent.
The letter raised several environmental issues and also accused city officials of being committed to approving the project prior to public hearings. Last year, City Council members responded to similar comments from members of the public by saying that they had not committed to the project. The letter opposed proposed changes to the site plan for the Bay City Partners Property.
Ingram said the Seal Beach for Open Space letter was one of 29 comments the city had received on the Draft EIR. Ingram said the city’s response would be included in the final EIR.
“We have not yet (responded), but there will be a response to that letter as part of the Final EIR,” Ingram said.
Persico said basically the same thing about the letter, which was by attorney Amy Minteer on behalf of the activist group.
On Jan. 30, Minteer said she had passed the Sun’s contact information to her clients. To date, no one has phoned or e-mailed the Sun Newspaper on behalf of the group. It’s members are unknown. It is not known if Seal Beach for Open Space is a club, a non-profit organization or a lobby for a rival developer. Asked if it was possible to separate the cost of responding to the activist group’s letter from the other costs of the EIR, Ingram said it would not cost Seal Beach money either way. She said the Bay City Partners had agreed to reimburse Seal Beach for the costs of the environmental document.
The Final EIR will be available for public comment on Feb. 24
