City will be co-applicant for coastal permit for Beach House project
The Seal Beach City Council voted 3-2 this week to approve an amendment to the lease agreement for the city-owned restaurant building at 15 First St. The address of the building is known locally as the former site of River’s End Cafe and the future site of the Beach House restaurant.
District Five Councilwoman Sandra Massa-Levitt and Mayor/District Four Councilwoman Schelly Sustarsic cast the dissenting votes at the Jan. 27 meeting.
District Three Councilman Mike Varipapa made the motion to approve the amendment. District One Councilman Joe Kalmick seconded the motion. The restaurant building is in Kalmick’s district.
The amendment to the lease agreement was a Consent Calendar item. Consent Calendar items are voted on collectively without discussion by the council unless pulled for separate discussion.
However, Massa-Levitt pulled the item off the Consent Calendar. The request was made prior to the public comment segment of the meeting.
The council originally approved the lease with the business associates in March 2018. The long-awaited Beach House restaurant has not yet opened.
According to the staff report by City Attorney Craig Steele, the new agreement would:
• Have the lease agreement and rent begin 120 days after the city and California Coastal Commission issue permits.
The Sun on Jan. 20 emailed a request to the Coastal Commission for an update on the status of the 15 First Street application. The Sun will update readers on the reply when it is received.
• Assign the lease from the previous “entity” known as Bay City LLC to the entity known as Beach House at the River, LLC. “The principals of the two entities are the same.”
• Have Beach House pre-pay the first three months “as part of the execution of the Amendment.”
(According to the City Council resolution approving the lease amendment, that payment will be for $20,100. The base rent will be $6,700 a month.)
• “The City will become ‘co-applicant’ with the tenants for a Coastal Development Permit, although the tenants will be responsible for all costs of the permit process and any conditions imposed. The City will expeditiously process an amendment to the exist CUP to align the plans approved by the City with the plans submitted to the Coastal Commission.”
• “Provides that the first CPI rent adjustment will be in April of 2020, and every two years thereafter.”
Steele told the council that the tenants had signed the agreement and that the council had been briefed on the issue.
Following Steele’s presentation to the council, Massa-Levitt said she was voting no. She said when the lease was first proposed (apparently referring to the 2018 version), she was delighted with the group.
However, Massa-Levitt said that the group “went off on its own and did not take some valuable advice.”
She said she no longer had confidence in the group.
No one else spoke about the matter. The council voted.
The business associates in Beach House at the River are Brian Kyle, Rosie Ritchie and David Coe. It was Coe who apparently filled out the December 2018 Statement of Information with the California Secretary of State. The second page of the form identifies Ritchie and Kyle as additional managers or members.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the day after the meeting, Brian Kyle, one of the business partners in Beach House, declined to respond to her remarks.
“Let’s stay positive,” Kyle said. “We’re finally moving forward.”
Tom Rowe, a restaurant owner who has been acting as a spokesman for the Beach House, also declined to respond to Massa-Lavitt’s remarks. He said he was happy to see the vote pass and see the project move forward.
“It’s absolutely in the best interest of the city, the group, and the community,” Rowe said.
Asked why the First Street restaurant project had taken so long, Rowe said there had been issues with securing the Coastal Development permit.
The city attorney’s staff report also attributed delays to obtaining a coastal permit.
“Most notably, delays have occurred as a result of the Coastal Commission’s decision to require a Coastal Development Permit for the project the tenants proposed, and while the parties worked out disagreements over various issues relating to the lease,” wrote Steele in his staff report to the council.
Businesswoman Rosie Ritchie said, “I just think we need to come together as a team and create an establishment that will serve the community.”
