Residents and city officials alike won’t know what is happening with the space at the end of the Seal Beach Pier until the City Council has vetted a structural report on the city landmark, according to Mayor Ellery Deaton. However, the city hasn’t received the report.
Meanwhile, local businesswoman and Seal Beach resident Wendi Rothman said she is optimistic that Off the Hook – a proposed dual restaurant concept that would occupy two stories — and the city can come to an agreement about her project.
Deaton, who said she could speak only for herself and not for the council, said she would like to know if the California Coastal Commission would allow the city to build a new structure at the pier’s end if the city tears the existing Ruby’s Diner down. Deaton said the city doesn’t have the answer to that question.
In April 2014, the City Council directed then-City Attorney Quinn Barrow (now the city’s senior attorney) to begin negotiating with Off the Hook to develop the space at the end of the pier.
At the time, MDK Restaurant Developers, an out of town company, and Rothman’s Off the Hook had been discussing the pier space with city officials. Both developers had proposed a two-story, two-restaurant project for the pier space. The local alternative, Rothman’s Off the Hook, was chosen, but the process stalled when the city and Rothman did not come to terms last summer.
According to Rothman, she met with the city manager and city attorney last week and was told basically what Deaton told the Sun: the city is waiting for the structural report. The report, being prepared by Moffat & Nichol Engineering, an outside firm, is expected to assess damage done to the pier from strong waves caused by Hurricane Marie in late August 2014. Rothman said she advised city officials to look at what she said was damage done to the pier by boats coming from the oil platforms on a daily basis. The question of whether the pier can support the originally planned two-story restaurant remains unanswered and Rothman said she is flexible about developing either a one-story or two-story project.
Rothman said if she isn’t the one to develop the space, she wants the developer to be a successful restaurateur and not someone with an ulterior agenda for the pier.
The lease between Ruby’s Diner and the city expired in 2012. The restaurant chain and the city were negotiating a new lease when it became known that Seal Beach was going to send out requests for proposals for the pier space.
A request for proposal would open up the process to any firm that wanted to throw its hat in the ring to operate a business at the end of the pier. The Ruby Restaurant Group notified Seal Beach by letter on Dec. 10, 2012 that the restaurant was leaving and it closed on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. The building has fallen into disrepair and the city has fenced off the end of the pier to the public, fearing it may be a hazard.
