Several folks at Javatinis Espresso recently saw a coyote on Main Street. They seem to be all over Seal Beach-related social media these days. Asssistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos said he recently met with residents of First and Marina to discuss their concerns. He said the city was looking at the brush in the area and the fence line at the old oil site near First Street, near the handball court. Gallegos said he believes the coyotes are probably coming from the riverbed area, as well as other places.
“We think they’re going through the DWP site because there’s some coverage,” Gallegos said.
He said the landowners have been good about allowing the city access to clear brush the property. He expected that to continue. The Sun is working on an update on what Leisure World officals are doing about the coyote problem.
• DWP/Ocean Place, etc.: And speaking of the DWP site, Gallegos said there was no update on the former DWP property site, now owned by Bay City Partners. In related news, Ed Selich recently told the Sun he had nothing new to report on the planned municipal park and residential development.
The Coastal Development Permit to develop the property will expire in March 2018 if no work has begun on the development.
• ARCO clean up: Remember the ARCO station that used to stand on PCH? It has been about seven years since four Seal Beach homes in the Bridgeport neighborhood were temporarily evacuated due to the detection of gasoline vapors traced to leaking underground storage tanks at the old gas station. Since then, the gas station has been bulldozed, the contaminated soil dug up and hauled away. It appears that the decontamination process is in the final stages.
According to the State Water Resources Board Geotracker website, 15 wells at the site are being monitored on a quarterly basis. There are no upcoming community meeting notices on the website.
Earlier this year, the Seal Beach Community Department received an applicaiton for a conditional use permit to build a new gas station there. But, for now, no project is going forward. According to Crystal Landavazo, interim director of Community Development, “An application was submitted for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) requesting the Planning Commission’s approval to allow a service station on the property located at 490 Pacific Coast Highway. The application was deemed incomplete and the applicant has not re-submitted application materials for staff’s review. To our knowledge the applicant is working with a consultant to conduct a traffic analysis but we have not been notified as to when new application materials will be submitted.
“The application was not denied as the Planning Staff does not have the authority to deny a CUP application. After review of the material, staff determined that the application did not have enough information to present to the Planning Commision for their review and determination.”
Landavazo said, “Once the application is deemed complete, public notices will be printed in the paper and mailed to properties within a 500 foot radius.”
If you have a question about a continuing issue, email Associate Editor Charles M. Kelly at editor2@sunnews.org.
