See Details Of Related Proposals That Property Owners Say Could Enable Restoration And Public Access To Much Of Los Cerritos Wetlands North of 2nd St./Studebaker Linked To Development At Pumpkin Patch (PCH/Studebaker)

The report provides details on a story reported first (again) days ago on LBREPORT.com.

(June 24, 2014, 7:30 a.m.) -- The July 1 Long Beach City Council agenda includes an item inviting the Council to give its initial Coastal Act approval power to the Coastal Commission on a project proposed for the "pumpkin patch" (PCH @ Studebaker north of the Seal Beach bridge) as the Coastal Commission simultaneously takes up a related proposal that could for the first time enable public access and restore much of the massive wetlands north of 2nd St./west of Studebaker.

[Exhibit C to staff report conceptual site plan]

The two proposed projects are related and jointly submitted by Synergy (which owns the former Bixby oil field owned for a time by a Dean LLC) and wants to relocate some of its oil infrastructure off the wetlands area onto the "pumpkin patch" (owned by Lyon Housing).

Synergy proposes removing from the wetlands area north of 2nd St. oil related pipes and tanks, and would conduct required remediation and create a [city staff agendizing text] "wetlands mitigation bank for eventual restoration of approximately 136 acres on the Synergy oil field, and constructing public access improvements and trails through the restored wetlands [conceptual site plan above]"

[City staff agendizing text] The Applicants' stated goal is to restore and open approximately 90% of the Los Cerritos wetlands on the Synergy oil field to public access, with the restoration funds being provided through the implementation of a wetlands mitigation bank. The oil operations on the City-owned wetlands south of Second Street would also be considered for consolidation into the Pumpkin Patch; however, as the City is the owner of the property, it would not be included as part of the Applicant's proposed wetlands mitigation bank. The Applicants expect initial efforts to consolidate the oil operations on the Pumpkin Patch to occur by 2016. Relocation of the majority of the oil operations and infrastructure would be phased over several years. Likewise, restoration of the Los Cerritos wetlands would be phased over several years, with the majority of the restoration occurring within 18 months of full approval of the project. The balance of wetland restoration would occur once the oil storage facilities and equipment are removed.

Artist renderings indicate that Lyon envisions building what looks like office space and other structures on the pumpkin patch property.

Seeking to have the Coastal Commission handle Coastal Act issues on both parcels would still leave the Council (outgoing or incoming) with thorny SEADIP issues including whether to enable or rule out extending Studebaker Road between Second St. and PCH, strongly opposed for years by wetlands advocates but recently broached (using an elevated roadway) by some members of the public in floor discussion at an early meeting of a SEADIP rewrite/update advisory panel.

The city staff agendized report acknowledges that connecting Studebaker Rd. to PCH across what is now City owned wetlands south of 2nd St. "is a significant issue worthy of policy discussion, as the roadway extension would likely have to be constructed through portions of an existing degraded wetlands habitat. The comprehensive SEADIP update is expected to address the viability of this requirement given the potential environmental impacts. If the City is not interested in further pursuing the extension of Studebaker Road, an amendment to SEADIP would be required, either through the comprehensive SEADIP update or in conjunction with this Project."

The City [and ultimately the Council] would also deal with CEQA environmental review and SEADIP amendments to change allowable land uses in Subareas 11(a), 11(b), as well as modifying some areas to allow oil drilling operations.

[City staff agendizing memo] All of these local actions would need to be completed and authorized prior to the CCC issuing the CDCP, allowing staff and the Applicants to work closely with the CCC as it concurrently handles its own local process. This significantly reduces the timeframe the Applicants would be subject to for processing the Project application. Given the unique circumstances presented by this opportunity, staff is seeking direction from the City Council with respect to processing this Project independent from the comprehensive SEADIP process that is currently underway. Since this Project includes a significant portion of SEADIP that is already under review, and if the City Council allows this Project to proceed independently, staff would require the Applicants to conduct the same level of community engagement currently underway for the SEADIP update. In addition to the fiscal impacts discussed below, taking the subject sites out of the comprehensive SEADIP process may also result in a significantly shortened processing time for the SEADIP update.

The proposal to let the Coastal Commission handle Coastal Act issues on both parcels requires Council majority approval...and has sped forward at astonishing blitz speed. The Applicants jointly filed it on Monday, June 16 and city staff reported it at a SEADIP advisory panel meeting on Wednesday, June 18. (LBREPORT.com learned of it and was first to report it on June 20.)

The item is now scheduled to reach the Council on July 1...as five current voting members prepare to exit on July 15. City staff has previously indicated that it plans also to bring the Council on July 1 a fateful choice of a preferred developer/proposer for a controversial Civic Center rebuild. As of June 23, the Civic Center item isn't visible on the initial version of Council's online agenda but could materialize in the coming days. As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, city management has refused LBREPORT.com's request to release under the CA Public Records Act the dueling proposals submitted in response to city management's RFP for the Civic Center rebuild until after a contract with a Council chosen developer/proposer is signed. City staff has also refused to release a number of documents separately requested under the Public Records Act by Terry Jensen and retired Deputy City Attorney Jim McCabe, seeking to learn the basis for a number of city staff representations made as it advanced the proposed "public private partnership" project.

And also now scheduled for July 1: city staff's report and possible Council action on alternatives to sprayed concrete on LB's bluffs (separate coverage coming on LBREPORT.com.)

City staff says the fiscal impact of the proposed wetlands area consolidated action "is not yet known."

[City staff agendizing memo text] The California Department of Conservation awarded the City a $929,000 grant for the comprehensive SEADIP update, and the City authorized a $1,376,638 contract with PlaceWorks (formerly The Planning Center/DC&E) on June 18,2013. Both agreements would need to be modified to reflect a reduced scope of work, and the City may incur costs for modifying the contracts. In addition, the State may require that the City reimburse the State for any grant funds already expended by the City on the comprehensive SEADIP update. Through April 2014, the City has incurred approximately $200,000 in consultant costs.
While no General Fund revenues have been used to support the comprehensive planning efforts, any contract modification costs or grant reimbursements may need to come from the General Fund. There is no local job impact associated with the recommendation.

LBREPORT.com makes the full city staff agendized report available below:

Proposal for Consolidated Coastal Development Permit re Southeast Long Beach wetlands and PCH/Studebaker P...