Revised Proposed Neg Dec On Studebaker/Loynes Parcel No Longer Specifies What Property Owner Plans After Removing Tanks; Specific Reference To Dry Vehicle Storage Removed
(Jan. 14, 2010) -- City staff has issued a revised proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration (contending no significant environmental impacts after mitigation) for the removal of several tanks on the Studebaker/Loynes parcel that no longer specifies what the property owner (Studebaker LB, LLC, a Tom Dean entity) plans to do with the land after the tanks are removed.
The project as now described has shrunk to basically a tank removal project. To view the full Mitigated Negative Declaration, click here.
A revised Mitigated Negative Declaration on City Hall's website states in pertinent part, "No other activity or land use is proposed for this project. Any specific use proposed for the site in the future would be subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)." City Hall says it will receives written comments on the document from today (Jan. 14) through Feb. 16 (4:30 p.m.)...and the item is scheduled for a Planning Commission hearing two days later on Feb. 18 (at 5 p.m.)
Source: Released Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Decl
As first reported months ago by LBReport.com, Mr. Dean's LLC has ceased pursuit of a retail development at the site (which would have required rezonings) and indicated it would pursue a conforming use.
As previously reported by LBReport.com, in early December 2009 city staff issued a proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration for removing the tanks that indicated future "dry vehicle storage." That possible future use swiftly criticized by some. The property's IG zoning permits a wide variety of industrial uses.
From LB's Municipal Code:In December, an initial Mitigated Negative Declaration was issued, indicating a proposed future use of "dry vehicle storage"...which was swiftly criticized by some as "junk yard"...but in fact,
General Industrial (IG). The General Industrial (IG) district is considered the City's "industrial sanctuary" district where a wide range of industries that may not be desirable in other districts may locate. The emphasis is on traditionally heavy industrial and manufacturing uses. The IG district is intended to promote an "industrial sanctuary" where land is preserved for industry and manufacturing, and where existing industries are protected from non-industrial users that may object to the operating characteristics of industry. Performance standards still must be met, but the development standards are the minimum necessary to assure safe, functional, and environmentally-sound activities.
The IG district includes uses such as large construction yards with heavy equipment, chemical manufacturing plants, rail yards, and food processing plants. The buildings that house these operations may be older industrial buildings retrofitted to accommodate the use, or new state-of-the-art manufacturing plants. As is the case with all the industrial districts, the focus of the IG district is on the operating characteristics of the use, rather than the particular product created.
There are multiple uses consistent with the current IG zoning. City staff has previously indicated to LBReport.com that in general, a property owner could change an initially proposed use to some other use consistent with the IG zoning...but depending on the type of use proposed, additional city staff (and possibly public) review may be required.
Studebaker LB, LLC had previously proposed to use the site at 400 Studebaker Rd. at Loynes Dr. for a retail development anchored by Home Depot which would have required rezonings. That use was opposed by the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust and the University Park Estates Neighborhood Association, which filed a court legal action challenging the retail development's EIR (which was certified on a 6-3 Council vote with Schipske, O'Donnell, Gabelich dissenting).
Some had speculated that if approvals for the retail development were denied, the landowner might move forward with industrial uses such as cargo container storage; opponents of the retail development dismissed that at the time as a scare tactic.
The site is across the street from the University Park Estates neighborhood and the Los Cerritos Wetlands and is a bit south of a residential neighborhood on the east side of Studebaker Rd. (north of the 22 freeway)...and is within sight of the privately gated Bixby Hill and a CSULB-adjacent residential neighborhood. It is just north of the eastern end of 2nd St, the gateway to Naples and Belmont Shore's Second Street.
