(Feb. 13, 2015, 9:45 a.m.) -- Over 80 people attended a February 11 "community workshop" on the Southeast Area Development and Improvement Plan (SEADIP.) The stated purpose of the event, held at the Golden Sails Hotel and presented by City Hall hired consultants, was to update the public and seek feedback on consultant-produced materials under a City Hall tasked process to update and re-write the 1977 SEADIP zoning document that controls land uses in a significant portion of SE Long Beach.
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After hearing an initial overview by the consultants and Brant Birkeland (City of LB planner), the audience was invited to visit three "breakout groups" for presentations and feedback on consultant-produced materials: a Draft Land Use Plan Concept, a Financial Feasibility Analysis and Community Structure visions. Within the "breakout groups," participants were allowed to ask questions, voice support, concerns and ideas and were also encouraged to submit written feedback forms or leave feedback online. This reporter circulated among the three "stations" and thus couldn't hear every question or verbal exchange or see what people wrote on their comments. However, common concerns heard throughout the evening centered on traffic (particularly at 2nd/PCH) and the fourth of four consultant-offered development scenarios that would allow some building heights of up to seven stories (more than double the current height limit) in the area's commercial core The consultants presented their fourth scenario as the most economically feasible for development.
In response to traffic concerns, the consultants said a traffic analysis would be available later in the SEADIP process. However, as previously reported by LBREPORT.com, at the October 2014 meeting of SEADIP's Advisory Committee at which the four development scenarios were originally presented, the consultant consortium's traffic engineer, Jason Pack, did present traffic figures on the four scenarios. Traffic engineer Pack reported in October 2014 that SEADIP's current 119,934 daily trips would increase from 2% to 5% for each development in the possible four scenarios. Specifically, traffic engineer Pack reported that for each Scenario One development in the area, 2% more daily trips would be added to the current total; each Scenario Two mixed-use development built would add 1% more total trips; every Scenario Three project built would add 3% more daily trips; and every Scenario Four project built would add 5% more daily trips to the current total. Under the fourth scenario (which the consultants presented as the most economically feasible), the October traffic figures indicated that five Scenario Four developments within the SEADIP area would add 25% more traffic or 29,983 more daily trips to the area.
After the Feb. 11 meeting concluded, a number of attendees expressed concern about what they've heard thus far: "Traffic at PCH and 2nd Street as well as PCH and Loynes is already heavily congested due to the fact that the 405, the 605 and the 22 traffic comes off of Studebaker down Loynes and on to PCH, as well as major traffic streams from the 405 coming down Westminster and dumping onto 2nd Street and coming north on PCH. During the summer it is already severely impacted and any additional proposed development is going to exacerbate that area." Ms. Sulc also voiced concern about vehicle speeds and pedestrian safety.
"I am very dismayed when I see a draft plan, presented in public, that shows an extension of Shopkeeper Road, when in fact we know, and the public has been advised, that a road through wetlands is not allowed under the Coastal Act. When the City of Long Beach promotes this information as a means for traffic mitigation, obviously something that they promote and describe to the community about this road, it’s presumably to help with traffic. But you can’t put a road there. So when you see this kind of information promoted as a fact, in a beautiful presentation to the public by consultants and city staff, in a public process to facilitate information and opinions, the legitimacy other information being presented as "fact" to the public in this meeting may need to be questioned as well ."
The consultants will now proceed to complete a finalized proposed Land Use Plan, an Environmental Impact Report, and a proposed Local Coastal Plan Amendment, which will eventually reach the LB City Council probably with city staff input. Public testimony must then be taken on each of these matters. Councilmembers will vote on how to proceed, followed by voted action regarding Coastal Act issues by the Coastal Commission. The net result will be zoning that will govern the future of commercial property, and open space, in a key portion of SE Long Beach for years to come. blog comments powered by Disqus Recommend LBREPORT.com to your Facebook friends:
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