(March 26, 2009) -- Members of the public -- who witnessed what took place and interacted with city officials on March 20 -- charged at the March 24 City Council meeting that City Hall delayed or failed to respond effectively to their telephone calls regarding the bulldozing of vegetation on the Loynes-south parcel between the Los Cerritos Channel and mobile home estates (which the new owner says was undertaken in response to a weed abatement/fire prevention notice) until after it was completed.

Using the period allocated to public comments on non-agendized issues, area resident Sandie Van Horn was the first to speak on the subject, testifying in part: you were all so excited about how much you loved the wetlands and you had an opportunity to help save it, and you didn't. "At 6:30 that morning, we were calling the city, I'll never forget, the act of just sitting there, calling, where are you, can't you help us. Finally, when it was all done and bled out, the [City] Manager arrived and it was too late..."

Addressing herself to 3rd district Councilman Gary DeLong, Ms. Van Horn said: "Gary, you asked in the L.A. Times, how did it happen, why did it happen. Why didn't you come in your car and come down and help us? We needed help that day...Gary, you asked in the L.A. Times, how did it happen, why did it happen. Why didn't you come in your car and come down and help us? We needed help that day..."

Ms. Van Horn said, "This is an embarrassment to Long Beach, because you're the one that wanted to protect the wetlands."

Councilman Patrick O'Donnell didn't press management for answers to Ms. Van Horn's question...but instead suggested that City Hall might need additional "tools" to deal with such situations.

City Manager Pat West offered to provide a memo on the events [the next Council meeting is two weeks away], which drew protests of "now, now" from audience members...whom Mayor Foster told to keep quiet ("we can't have any of that," he said.)

Although City Manager Pat West initially said late in the afternoon of March 20 [after the actions took place] that the property's "underlying zoning" is commercial, at the March 24 Council meeting he acknowledged publicly that the property is zoned for wetlands. On both occasions, West indicated that permits were required that he believes weren't obtained.

Councilman Gary DeLong asked for a "chronology" of events from city management, which management agreed to provide. Councilman DeLong also asked that any agreements/discussions being held now with the property owner and management be memorialized to avoid any misunderstanding [implying there might have been a previous "misunderstanding."]

Sandie Van Horn: ...[W]e're very very sad, actually we're in mourning...the death of a wetlands. This is a wetlands that the City Manager has called 'open commercial' and it isn't open commercial. I have SEADIP in front of me...It is zoned wetlands. And how this ever happen?...There's nothing left there. This wasn't weed abatement. These were mature palm trees that herons nested in...It was actually heartbreaking...[O]ver a month ago...you were all so excited about how much you loved the wetlands and you had an opportunity to help save it, and you didn't. At 6:30 that morning, we were calling the city, I'll never forget, the act of just sitting there, calling, where are you, can't you help us? Finally, when it was all done and bled out, the [City] Manager arrived and it was too late...This is an embarrassment to Long Beach, because you're the one that wanted to protect the wetlands. Gary, you asked in the L.A. Times, how did it happen, why did it happen. Why didn't you come in your car and come down and help us? We needed help that day...

Elizabeth Lambe:While the facts are still being assembled, there is no question that last Thursday and Friday, an important habitat area near Studebaker and Loynes that is part of the Los Cerritos wetlands ecosystem was destroyed...The owners should be held financial responsible to get all, or perhaps any of the required permits...We believe this land can be restored, and we request that the city and the Coastal Commission order the owners to do so. Additionally, the illegal action should be referred to the proper law enforcement agencies for a thorough investigation. The illegal pile of ground up asphalt that is currently on the property should be removed immediately...For the city to allow the wholesale destruction of this open space and for the public to see no real consequences dooms future cooperative endeavors to failure. In order for there to be meaningful future partnership that ensure Long Beach's wetlands must be protected, the public must have confidence in you and in the process...I was there from 9 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon, I have cellphone records of eveybody I spoke with. When I got there at 9, the land had been scraped, the gates weren't locked till 4, and after the City had been there around 11 a.m. to tell them to stop moving earth, they continued to move the asphalt and the trucks with asphalt continued to be brought in...

Councilman O'Donnell: ...It's pretty obvious there's a lot of anger out there, but I think what people need to do is educate themselves as to what exactly the facts are and what the policies are that are applicable in this situation, so could we get in a memo form back from you information detailing exactly what the city response was, the zoning of the land so people are educated as to the applicable zoning, and any necessary changes that you need to address situations like this...

Councilman Gary DeLong: In addition to the memo...I'd appreciate receiving some kind of a chronology of exactly what happened, when was the city first alerted, how quickly did it respond, how fast did we get somebody out, what directions did we give the person?...

City Mgr. West:...As the speaker pointed out, it definitely is wetlands, it's in the SEADIP area and in the Coastal Zone.

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