Editor’s note: The Seal Beach Planning Commission received 23 letters regarding Bay City Partner’s project plan for the site off of First Street, next to the San Gabriel River, formerly owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Twenty of the letters were in favor of the plan. Three of the letters were against it. The following two letters represent both sides.
The Planning Commission began a hearing on a zoning change for the project site on Wednesday, May 2. The hearing continues on May 16.
Against
I strongly encourage you to vote against accepting the EIR (environmental impact report) on the DWP property at the May 2 hearing. The number of homes in the proposed development, the lack of street parking in the proposed development, and the already-impacted parking near the DWP property will mean additional parking congestion in Old Town.
Drive down First Street at any time of the day (not in the summer) and you will see cars parked there. These cars belong to residents.
These residents will be crowded by the parking from the new development, where street parking is virtually non-existent.
A casual reading of demographic changes shows that more adult children are living at home, and this will be true of some of the households in the new development. With only two garage spaces, the third and fourth cars might be parked in the apron, but that is not guaranteed.
Some of these cars will be parked on adjacent streets outside of the development.
Additionally, there is the well-observed phenomenon of garages being used as storage for all sorts of personal items, non-vehicular, which crowds cars onto the nearby streets as well. The consulting firm did not perform its job when stating that parking issues were of little importance.
Reject the DWP EIR.
Mike Buhbe
Seal Beach
In Favor
I write you today not as the president of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce, or as a local business owner, but as a fourth-generation resident of Seal Beach.
I am writing to support the development of the Bay City Partners’ project on the former site of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as amended and presented by advisory committee member, Seth Eaker.
Mr. Eaker is the only member of the committee who studied the final environmental impact report it its entirety and therefore the only committee member that presented a logical course of action in supporting the plan as amended.
I feel it is important that you read my words of support for several reasons.
Seal Beach is a small town; the opinions of those in favor of change are not always expressed for fear of retribution.
Case in point, the vocal minority that shows up at every advisory committee meeting is much like a lynch mob out to silence the voice of reason.
At the age of 37, my family and I will enjoy at least another 40 years of residency in Seal Beach.
I have long-term views of what our beautiful city can look like and how it can support the needs of our children as they grow and begin their own families.
The need for housing and open space is a key element to sustaining our way of life in Seal Beach.
Lastly, be it Bay City Partners or another development firm with a vision for our city, the DWP property will inevitably be developed.
Why not let sensibility guide in your reasoning and move forward with the current owners to develop this land?
They have more than a monetary interest in the satisfactory outcome of this project; they live and work here in Seal Beach.
We may not be able to say that for the next developers that will come along should this project be denied.
Nat Ferguson
Seal Beach
McGaugh dog poop problem overstated
I am compelled to respond to “McGaugh school not a toilet.” I feel that the dog poop menace has been overstated. Between three kids, our family attended McGaugh from 1996 through 2008.
They never stepped in any poop or knew anyone who did.
Everyday there is poop on children’s shoes and clothes? Really? Last week I was talking to another neighborhood friend who spent his six years at McGaugh from 1999 through 2005. Not only did he never step in any dog poop at school, he has actually never stepped in dog poop in his life! Clean living. I admit there may be a new movement afoot, but I won’t stand for the 20-year claim. That may be taking it a step too far.
Mark Millar
Seal Beach
Fussy trees on Main Street
It is quite entertaining to read the different articles about the fussy new trees on Main Street.
I personally thought Main Street was quite unique with all the old existing trees. It has it’s own character.
It is an eyebrow raiser when the mayor requests for a little more time to evaluate the project and a poll taken agrees with our Mayor, but the council votes to go ahead.
Sure would of been nice see our council invest in safety barriers for closing off Main Street on the weekends to allow our fine businesses to expand out into the streets to increase trade and eating areas to accommodate the summer crowds.
Something similar to our neighbors, Pine Street in Long Beach or Main Street in Huntington Beach. Everyone knows we have adequate parking along Electric Avenue. In closing, thanks for all your efforts.
Tom Hetherington
Seal Beach
Tree carvings questioned
I am from Long Beach and admire Seal Beach for its natural beauty and level-headed pragmatism. Whomever authorized outsiders to carve trees to look like poodles ought to have their heads examined.
Shaun Gottlieb
Long Beach
Date palms potential hazard
Two years ago I called and spoke with someone in the Public Works Division of Seal Beach with concerns about numbers large date palm trees on Second Street.
My concerns were that they trees did not look healthy and due to the size of the trees they could cause great harm if they were to topple.
The person I spoke with told me that they monitor the trees and he knew of the ones I was talking about and he said they were healthy and not a concern.
Well, look what happened! They might be healthy, but one snapped off at the base like a tooth pick.
Fortunately, there was little damage besides the car it destroyed. The wind was blowing from the west and not the east; otherwise it would have taken out the house behind it.
No one but the immediate residents knows the force in which this tree fell. It felt like an earthquake when it hit the ground, and was very violent.
If this tree were to have fallen on my house, it probably would have caused total destruction.
Who knows what the integrity of the remaining trees are? Maybe they have sustained some damage and just haven’t fallen over yet. I am requesting that the city of Seal Beach take immediate action and remove the remaining date palm trees from 115 2nd Street to Ocean Avenue. These trees are the same vintage and size of the fallen tree close to Central Way. Even though the winds were an act of God, we cannot ignore the possibility of potential loss of life and devastation to residences or property if you allowed this to happen again.
These trees are a hazard to our community and this needs to be addressed now to limit the exposure to potential liability the city may have.
It would be criminal to not take immediate action.
Wesley Sulimoff
Seal Beach
Homes falling into the sea
Coastal erosion along the California coast has been causing homes and commercial facilities to fall apart for years but the rate at which homes are falling into the sea is increasing and will accelerate even more by 2100 as a result of sea level rise.
We now have a warming trend that is causing expansion of the global ocean and a resultant sea level rise.
Climatologists predict Orange Coast will be affected.
Since our only ocean is shared by international treaties and the Army Corps of Engineers approves modifications, we residents have to think globally and act locally about beach towns.
The city of Seal Beach has always reacted responsibly to planning permit applications, and is holding required hearings on a housing tract investment gamble for 45 homes on 25-foot lots on the last beach-front space we have.
We residents can continue to insist on previously approved plans for this space—open space parks and visitor-serving commerce or plan a unified comprehensive future 40-plus year arrangement of acceptable coastal protections and enhancements in a Local Coastal Program.
This program also called a plan was due for submission to Sacramento in the ’80s.
In 2001 the California Coastal Commission gave Seal Beach a $30,000 grant to facilitate the planning process.
The City Council appointed a citizens advisory committee.
This group is now “on hold” once more because all the staff, city commissions, and council have focused their attention on the amenities of this tract of 45 homes on 25-foot lots with no consideration being given to the impacts of sea level rise and other changes in the beach environment.
It seems as if Seal Beach is busy moving the deck chairs on the Titanic while Newport Beach puzzles over whether an $80 million sea wall will be adequate to save Balboa Island.
Any questions, comments, opinions, ideas, please contact:
Bruce Monroe
Seal Beach
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