To Avoid Colliding With Planning Comm'n Meeting Re Proposed SEADP Rezoning, Councilwoman Price Moves Parking Study Meeting To Sept. 1...Where It Now Collides With Planning Commission Belmont Plaza Pool Rebuild / EIR Hearing

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(August 19, 2016, 2:15 p.m.) -- In response to residents who said a public meeting on a Belmont Shore parking study would collide with an Aug. 18 Planning Commission study session on the proposed density-inviting SEASP (SE LB) rezoning, Councilwoman Suzie Price has rescheduled release of a long-awaited Belmont Shore area parking study to a Sept. 1 public meeting...BUT it will now collide with a Sept. 1 Planning Commission hearing on a proposed $100+ million rebuild of the Belmont Plaza pool.

The Sept. 1 Planning Commission hearing is expected to include votes on the proposed pool rebuild project itself and certification [approval] of a City Hall proffered final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the new facility's neighborhood and broader impacts.

[Scroll down for further.]

Voicing one's views -- either in person or in writing -- on the Pool EIR at the Sept. 1 Planning Commission hearing, scheduled for 5:00 p.m. in the City Council Chamber, 333 W. Ocean Blvd., is necessary if one wants to preserve one's legal options for a future appeal in the proceeding. The Planning Commission hearing notice states in pertinent part:

[Planning Comm'n notice text, italics and all emphasis in original] This is your opportunity to voice your opinion regarding the proposed permit. To establish "AGGRIEVED" status (leading to a right to appeal) you must present oral or written testimony at this hearing; otherwise, you may not appeal this project. For information on presenting written testimony, please see reverse side [text below.]
..."If you challenge the action in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or issues raised via written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at or prior to the public hearing."
[From reverse side of hearing notice]...Written material that is presented to the Planning Commission...up to 1 p.m. the day of the Planning Commission hearing [Sept. 1] will be included in the Commissioners' agenda folder. Material presented to the Commission at the Hearing will be part of the record.

The notice indicates that written materials should be delivered to: City of Long Beach, Department of the Development Services, Planning Bureau, 333 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802. The hearing itself at 5 p.m. takes place in the City Council Chamber.

City Hall's draft EIR can be viewed on this link [scroll down to Belmont Pool draft EIR] and has been available since April. The city's responses to previously submitted public comments aren't yet on its webpage [as of Aug. 19, 1:30 p.m.]; we expect they will be up in the coming week.

And caveat: comments submitted from April-June on the draft EIR don't bestow "aggrieved status." Participation in the Sept. 1 Planning Commission hearing -- either in person or in writing -- is what conveys aggrieved status, giving one the opportunity to become an appellant to the City Council if they wish.

Within 10 calendar days of the Planning Commission's decision, an aggrieved person can file an appeal...which costs $50. An appellant has rights that other public speakers pro and con don't have when the appeal reaches the City Council. Appellants are typically allowed more than the usual three minutes for other public speakers pro and con and are also usually given some opportunity to rebut...and appellants have certain rights to pursue court proceedings if they're dissatisfied with the Council's voted action on their appeal.

Meanwhile, about an hour after the Planning Commission hearing on the Belmont Plaza pool starts at City Hall downtown, the results of an ongoing Belmont Shore area parking study (prepared by City Hall-hired Walker Parking Consultants) will be unveiled at a public meeting at 6:00 p.m. Thurs. Sept. 1 at the Bay Shore Community Congregational Church, 5100 The Toledo.

In an emailed advisory to constituents and other interested parties, Councilwoman Price says:

[Councilwoman Price mass emailing]...At the meeting, Walker Parking Consultants will provide an update of the on-going study, including a summary of the data collection results, as well as observations and impressions collected while out in the field, and how it will shape the study's eventual recommendations.
The study area is roughly south of Livingston Drive and The Toledo, and west of Bay Shore Avenue, to the coast, including the beach parking lots.
The study will seek to identify strategies to enhance parking capacity in the Business District, while reducing parking impacts in residential areas. This information will be used to develop a Parking Management Plan.
The Parking Management Plan will be presented to the Planning Commission and City Council for review, comment and policy direction.

Stay with LBREPORT.com for coverage of both of these LB impacting stories.