The State Lands Commission is negotiating a possible land swap with the owners of the Bay City Partners property in Old Town, according to an April 25 letter to the Seal Beach Planning Commission.
Bay City Partners Project Manager Ed Selich, in a May 10 e-mail to the Sun, said the California agaency is still investigating to determine if there is a public land trust issue. “They need to show documentation that the State has a valid public trust easement. They have not done that yet. They said it would take some research. I expect an answer soon,” Selich wrote.
“If the easement does not exist; end of story,” Selich wrote. “If it does exist I have discussed with them an exchange or boundary adjustment to put the easement in an area not proposed for residential development. They are amenable to that.”
The Bay City Partners have applied to change the zoning for the land formerly owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The land is currently zoned for 70 percent open-space and a 150-room hotel on the remainder. The property owners until recently proposed building 48 residential homes on the land.
However, according to the California State Lands Commission, there appears to be a public trust easement on nine of the proposed lots.
“CSLC staff does not object to the sale of these parcels, however prior to the lot line adjustment or proposed residential use, we recommend that the owner of the uderlying fee title seek resolution with the CSLC that will provide a resolution that is not inconsistent with the public trust easement over the property,” wrote Kathy Colson, staff counsel for the state agency.
“To that end, the CSLC staff has begun discussions with Mr. Ed Selich, representing the Bay City Partners about the possibility of a land exchange to impress the public trust easement on another portion of the property that is more suitable for public trust uses, which would allow the residential development to proceed as planned,” Colson wrote.
The letter ended with a request that the Seal Beach Planning Commission make a resolution of the public easement issue a condition of approving the project.
“Remember the Public Trust easement does not affect our ownership: it only restricts use from residential to coastal related commercial within the easement area (if it exists),” Selich said.
