The Bay City Partners have decided to give Seal Beach 6.4 acres of land in exchange for permission to build the Ocean Place 32-residential home development project.
Ed Selich, confirmed the decision in a Saturday, June 30, e-mail to the Sun.
Asked if the partners had reached a decision on whether to dedicate the land to the city, Selich wrote: “Yes. It is a ‘donation’ however, not a ‘dedication.’”
Asked if he thought the city could make additional requests of the partners, Selich wrote: “This is it.”
In related news, Selich told the Sun that the partners were doing a land exchange with the State Lands Commission even though they had not provided evidence that there is a public easement on the part of the property that Bay City Partners intend to develop.
“We will place an area of land within the donated open space area along and in the river under the public trust easement,” Selich wrote. “It will be equal in area to what the state claims is under the public trust easement in our development area. The state will then relinquish their claim to the public trust easement within our development area. That is the exchange.”
The City Council tentatively approved the proposed project received tentative on Tuesday, June 26, near the end of a marathon council meeting. Seal Beach officials voted 5-0 to approve the first reading of an ordinance that amends the DWP Specific Plan—on the condition that the property owners give the city 6.4 acres of land designated for open space. The entire property was recently described in a city staff report as 10.9 acres. Previous staff reports described the land as 10.7 acres.
The council is not legally obligated to approve the project on the second reading, which has been scheduled for the agencies Monday, July 9, meeting.
Selich told the council that the partners would meet to discuss the request. At the time, he said the partners would meet in two weeks to discuss “dedicating” (giving) the open space area to Seal Beach.
District 1 Councilwoman Ellery Deaton and District 3 Councilman Gordon Shanks both said they would not vote for the project unless the property owners agreed to give the open land to the city. The project is located in Deaton’s district.
The city had previously agreed to buy the land for $1.1 million dollars as part of an out-of court settlement. The council last year set aside $1.1 million in redevelopment agency funds for the purchase, which was conditioned on the Bay City Partners receiving a development permit from the California Coastal Commission.
However, since that time the state legislature has abolished city and county redevelopment agencies. Successor agencies, as they are called, are only allowed to pay the debts of the previous RDAs—subject to approval from an oversight committee. Recently, the state denied Seal Beach’s authority to spend the $1.1 million on the Bay City Partners’ proposed project at the former site of a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power plant.
Shanks said there was no way that money would come out of the General Fund.
District 4 Councilman Gary Miller indicated he would also like to see Bay City Partners put money into the park.
Shanks said he would like the partners to contribute money. However, Shanks said he didn’t think the city could do that at this juncture.
