CA Coastal Comm'n Meets In LB, Settles Case Re Huntington Beach Wetlands Clearing w/ Restoration Order & Raises Sum Payable From $125k to $250k; LB Wetland Advocates Testify, Compare It To Clearing Of Loynes South Parcel, Hit LB City Hall's Stance
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To our knowledge, as of the afternoon Nov. 6, LBReport.com is the only LB news outlet to cover this story.
(November 6, 2009) -- On November 4-5, the CA Coastal Commission met in Long Beach (in the LB City Council Chamber) and among its agendized items was an enforcement action in which a land owner agreed with Coastal Commission staff to restore wetlands in the Huntington Beach area that the property owner had cleared and to pay a sum of $125,000.
Coastal Comm'n webcast
On the agenda item,
Commission staff presented "before" and "after" pictures of the wetlands.
Wetlands before clearing. Coastal Comm'n webcast
After clearing. Coastal Comm'n webcast
The Commission then heard public testimony...and several LB area wetlands and environmental spoke.
In the public interest, LBReport.com provides on-demand audio below of the LB advocates' testimony and salient portions of the Coastal Commission item. To launch audio, click photos/names below:...and colloquy by Coastal Commissioners who may eventually hear the LB case on appeal.
Following public testimony (during which Mr. Marchese suggested raising the sum to be paid), some Coastal Commissioners indicated they likewise favored increasing the sum to be paid [paraphrase] to send a message deterring similar actions elsewhere. The item was held to the end of the Commission's two day agenda [to see if the landowner would agree to this]...and the landowner ultimately did agree to pay a $250,000 doubled-sum and the Commission approved the consent item.
To hear the salient Commission colloquy on November 4 (which led to doubling the sum paid), click here [sound clip is edited to remove pauses].
There is a looming LB aspect to this story. Last month, a LB City Hall zoning administrator granted a permit that, in effect, retroactively permits an earlier unpermitted bulldozing/clearing of the Loynes-South parcel by its landowner, approved recapping its punctured landfill cap...and declined to order restoration of the property to its previous natural condition or order stiff fines. (The landowner said the bulldozing/clearing was an effort to comply with a City Hall fire hazard/weed abatement directive.)
Photo shows Loynes-South property immediately after land clearing
The zoning administrator's action angered wetlands advocates who have appealed the action to LB's non-elected (Mayor chosen, Council approved) Planning Commission. The LB Planning Commission's decision could in turn be appealed to the Coastal Commission...which could put the LB landowner in the same venue faced by the HB wetlands owner.
There are differences in the two cases, among them: in the HB case, the landowner acknowledged the area is wetlands; in the LB case, the landowner produced a report at the LB Zoning Administrator hearing contending the property isn't wetlands. Wetlands advocates have in turn produced two reports which contend it is wetlands.
LCWLT Exec. Director Lambe cited the LB case in remarks at the opening of the Coastal Commission's LB meeting during public comment on non-agendized items. To hear Ms. Lambe's public comment testimony at the opening of the Coastal Commission meeting, click here. [Audio was transmitted with some distortion in original.]
One additional note: Coastal Commission alternate member and LB City Councilmember Suja Lowenthal was present at the start of the Nov. 4 meeting...but (according to a witness to the proceedings) exited before the HB enforcement action was called (not visible on camera).
