The struggle over the fate of the last significantly sized, developable property on Seal Beach’s coast is heating up.
Owners of the 10.69-acre parcel known as “The DWP Property” on Friday, Aug. 13 announced they had served the city of Seal Beach with a 30-day notice to quit the use of the beach access roadway to the River’s End Café, the windsurfing staging area and the sewer easement at Ocean Ave and First Street.
The property is the former site of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power plant that was demolished in 1967.
Bay City Partners, LLC, owners of the property and easement, have been trying to have the city consider a development plan for the site.
“The city has done nothing to move the plan forward through the process,” said Project Development Manager Ed Selich.
The city, meanwhile, is attempting to take the easement by employing the process known as eminent domain. The often controversial practice by local governments allow for taking property for the common good by paying the property owners the “fair market value” of their land.
According to Selich, the city offered Bay City $48,000 for 21,000 square feet of land area.
“That is $2.30 per square foot for Bay City’s prime beachfront land estimated to be valued at up to $700 per square foot,” Selich said. “Even with today’s flagging real estate prices. Under the circumstances, Bay City had no option but to reject the offer.”
The legal question of whether the city can enforce eminent domain will supposedly be answered on Monday, Sept. 13, a few days before the quit notice.
Selich said the property owners have allowed the city and the public to use the easement and access road in good faith and that it would take a fair and open look at their project.
“We did that without even having them take out a license and pay a fee,” Selich said.
Seal Beach City Manager Dave Carmany said he does not think the California Coastal Commission would allow Bay City to close off the easement and access road.
“The Coastal Commission’s main mission is to protect coastal access,” Carmany said.
Carmany said the city was concerned that if the quit notice can be enforced, it might mean that the public would for a time not be allowed access to the beach at First Street and River’s End Café.
Selich said the Coastal Commission has nothing to do with the situation.
“It’s a legal issue,” Selich said.
Selich said the property owners merely want the city to cease its eminent domain bid on its property.
“We want the city to start paying a license fee to the property owners for use of its land,” Selich said.
In addition, Selich said Bay City has no intention of preventing the city or the public from using the access road or easement. He said it only wants the city to be legally bound to pay its way for using the property.
He noted that the city charges others such fees to use city property.
“We would never shut the road down, especially now when we are trying to get entitlements,” Selich said.
Bay City is asking the city to rezone the land from commercial to residential use with a site plan for 48 lots.
“They are the same size as the traditional Old Town Seal Beach residential lots. The homes will be two story limited to 25-feet in height (the present zoning allows 35-foot structures),” Selich said.
Bay City had originally submitted a plan with residential use over a larger area.
“After listening to community concerns (we are now) limiting residential use to the area from Central Way north in its proposal,” Selich said.
The land south of Central Way would not be changed by the application and would remain as public open space as designated by the LADWP Specific Plan.
