After a long and arduous process, the Los Alamitos City Council approved a construction permit for Lampson Park Place, LLC, a major housing construction project Monday by a vote of 3-1-1.
Mayor Jordan Nefulda, Mayor Pro-Tem Shelley Hasselbrink, and Council Member Tonya Doby voted to approve a construction permit for the development while Council member Emily Hibard voted against it, and Council Member Trisha Murphy abstained.
The approval ends what was a multi-year process of debate and controversy as developers will now have the legal right to break ground and begin construction on what will be the largest housing project in the city’s recent history.
Although the development contains a total of 246 housing units, the complex project includes various developers and contractors. For instance, the 77 low to moderate-income units will be constructed by a contractor that has successfully completed many similar projects across the state.
The vote came only after an intense period of questioning by Council members Hibard and Murphy.
Murphy asked why 11 soil borings mentioned in the draft Environmental Impact Review had been eliminated in the final EIR. Consultants present at the meeting could not find the reference but did note the final EIR did add two paragraphs that indicate the results of some of those borings.
Soil borings are used in construction projects to determine if any of the site’s previous uses left any liquids or chemicals beneath the surface.
She also questioned whether construction and material trucks would be allowed on Lampson Ave., which is not rated as a truck route
Legal Counsel Michael Daudt read a provision in the Seal Beach code that allows for temporary exemptions for trucks over the weight limit delivering materials used in construction.
Hibard had questions about why the developers had not carved out sufficient room in the development for a school bus stop within the development.
Developer’s representative George Voight said children of the development can easily and safely walk across the street to catch school buses.
“I can only tell you that there’s a safe passage, and the kids can walk across the street extremely safely, which is the concern that has been raised. I realize it is just kind of textbook NIBMYism,” he said. (not in my backyard)
Although the developed has yet to acquire firm plans for sewer service, Voight told the Council that the Los Alamitos Rossmoor Sewer District has provided the city with a “will serve” sewer letter, Voight said.
One of the conditions of the permit is that the developer cannot pass on the cost of sewer line construction to the city.
Although Seal Beach has yet to decide if it can, or will, provide service to the development, Voight suggested such a decision would add approximately 250 households to help share the cost of needed repairs to their system.
In the end, Hibard said there were still “too many loose ends” for her to support the project but with three votes, the project will now move forward. Murphy said while she supports development, she too had remaining questions, so she abstained from voting.
Watch for a complete report next week in the Sun and Event-News Enterprise.
