It's not immediately clear to what extent this may affect City Hall's desired timeline for approval. A December 3 city staff memo to the Mayor and City Council indicated plans to bring the item to LB's Planning Commission in December with City Council approval in January and Coastal Commission approval at its February 2020 meeting in Long Beach.

UPDATE: At dawn on Monday Dec. 9, interim City Manager Tom Modica emailed:

A notice of incomplete application is a pretty regular occurrence for Coastal application. It happens frequently, and is the mechanism for Coastal staff to formally ask questions of the applicant. We are reviewing their requests and will be providing responses as part of ongoing discussions. We do not expect a delay at this time and hope that Coastal staff can complete their review and schedule this for February 2020 when the meeting is here in Long Beach so all interested parties can attend.

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A City Council majority approved the initial design despite issues raised by veteran shoreline and environmental advocates including Gordana Kajer, Melinda Cotton, Jeff Miller, Ann Cantrell and Susan Miller. Coastal Commission staff effectively validated several of their issues by voicing similar concerns, which led city staff to revise the project's design.

As redesigned, the main building would be a bit further north away from the current shoreline (sea level rise). Recreational components were added (including a vortex pool/circulating water similar to a whirlpool, zip line, cascading waterfalls and splash pads). And the high enclosed rooftop is now gone. All bodies of water are now outdoors (although city staff's Dec. 3 memo indicates "an elegant shade sail" has been incorporated in the design to "provide some respite from the summer sun..")

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The redesign also lowered the estimated cost, which over time grew to $145 million but with the downsized redesign remains a still-sizable $85 million. City staff acknowledges that it's currently short about $25 million of having that total sum in hand for now. .

Initial response to the revised design was split. A group that backed the original design, McCormick Divers, voiced measured approval. "Well if it had to be outside, I guess it could look like this," said a message on the group's Facebook page, adding "Good job LB City. Now pitter patter and get at 'er!!"

Those who raised issues from the outset were unimpressed. Gordana Kajer signaled that she plans to mount robust opposition. Ann Cantrell commented on Facebook: "There is still no reason to build a swimming pool on the sand in a liquefaction zone with certain in sea level rise."

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