(November 8, 2004) -- LB City Hall has disclosed that a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (EIR No. 14-04) is being prepared for a proposed 8-story, 140-room Sierra Suites Hotel at the "Pike at Rainbow Harbor."

The hotel would be located on 285 Bay Street, bordered by Seaside Way to the north, Cedar Avenue to the west and Bay Street to the south, the city said in a short, official release.

Preparation of a Supplemental EIR suggests that a hotel was not among uses that LB City Hall explicitly certified in its EIR for the tidelands area site.

One outspoken critic of LB City Hall's historical downtown/beachfront development practices said the latest move shows that community members' concerns about what is supposed to be LB's signature attraction have proven right.

LB writer Bry Myown told LBReport.com, "If all the East Long Beach residents who voted to write-in Beverly O'Neill's name came downtown and saw what she was doing to their city, they would either un-elect her or leave town."

As originally proposed by a City Hall-retained architectural firm, the overall "Queensway Bay" area plan was supposed to "bring the ocean closer to downtown." It drew relatively few dissents and considerable applause...although some doubted it would ever take place as promised.

The City Council went on to separately approve developments that effectively made the ocean invisible from much of downtown Ocean Blvd.

And when Queensway Bay's entertainment and retail component was unveiled by City Hall's chosen developer DDR (not the original QW Bay area architect), it included a movie theater and other commercial uses.

Some residents were so dismayed by the QW Bay uses that they brought their concerns to an L.A.-area meeting of the State Lands Commission (SLC), the agency tasked with overseeing uses on state tidelands property. Uses on such property are restricted to certain state-legislature specified tidelands trust purposes.

The Commission (comprised of Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, the Governor's appointed Director of Finance and CA's elected State Controller) initially balked at inclusion of certain commercial elements (including a movie theater) on the tidelands site. The Commission directed SLC staff to work with LB City Hall to come up with what Lt. Gov. Bustamante called a better deal for state taxpayers in use of state tidelands.

The result was a tidelands trust "land swap" that removed tidelands restrictions on some of the Pike project's commercial footprints (including movie theaters) in exchange for which CA taxpayers received tidelands designation (roughly two for one in size) on a downtown area freeway median and some nearby riverbanks.

When news of the 2001 land swap became known, Ms. Myown charged that City Hall had violated the Brown (open meetings) Act in its dealings with SLC staff. City management hastily called a special Thursday Council meeting to get voted approval for the land swap. The Sept. 13 meeting proceeded despite pleas for a delay after the terrorist attacks of two days earlier and produced an 8-1 Council vote (Grabinski dissenting) authorizing then-City Manager Henry Tabaoda to proceed.

Ms. Myown and other LB activists including Ann Cantrell, Don May and Diana Mann then caravanned to Sacramento to urge the State Lands Commission not to approve the tidelands trust swap. The Commission voted 3-0 to approve the tidelands trust land swap.

The State Lands Commission doesn't have formal permit authority over the project; the CA Coastal Commission has permit authority and it granted Queensway Bay a permit years ago. The Pike developer was not party to the SLC proceedings, although the tidelands trust swap sought by City Hall effectively helped advance the project.

The state legislature ultimately controls state tidelands...and LB representatives Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal and state Senator Betty Karnette (recently elected to each other's offices) did not intervene in the land swap.

While critics called Queensway Bay a "shopping center by the sea," LB officials said it would produce a "critical mass" for downtown and the rest of the QW Bay area, including the Aquarium and Convention Center. City Hall's developer, DDR, renamed the 18-acre project "The Pike @ Rainbow Harbor," hearkening back to the former Rainbow Pier and nearby amusement zone.

In May 2002, DDR released artist drawings (below) in connection with a ceremony attended by LB officials launching construction of the Pike @ Rainbow Harbor. Below are salient portions of LBReport.com's coverage of the 2002 event:

[begin May 2002 text]

In its 2001 approval of the LB City Hall-requested land swap, the State Lands Commission included the following finding:

A City Hall "Rainbow Harbor Fact Sheet," posted on LB City Hall's web site during construction of the Pike @ Rainbow Harbor, notes that the site "is within easy walking distance of...several first-class hotels."

Sierra Suites describes itself on its web site as "an emerging brand of all-suite, extended stay hotels, with 21 locations in major metropolitan markets nationwide. Sierra Suites combines a high-quality suite hotel concept with targeted amenities and a service experience that rivals more upscale competitors - all for a very comfortable rate."

It adds, "All Sierra Suites extended stay hotels are new construction, so you can expect consistency throughout our brand. The first hotel was built in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996 and our newest extended stay hotel opened in Branchburg, New Jersey in July 2004."

Responding to an inquiry from LBReport.com on whether hotels are considered appropriate uses in state tidelands, State Lands Commission Executive Director Paul Thayer emailed, "Hotels are generally appropriate uses of public trust lands because they facilitate the public's ability to use and enjoy these lands."

City officials say there'll be a 45-day public review of the hotel-enabling Supplemental EIR once it becomes available. No date has been announced.