The long-debated mixed-use development second+pch will appear before the Long Beach City Council tomorrow and the LA Times takes the opportunity to recap the history of the development and its various opponents and supporters. At issue are 275 residential units, 155,000 square feet of retail space (including Long Beach's first high-end retail center), a 100 room hotel, a 4,175 square-foot science center, and underground parking for 1,440 cars. Those plans include a 12 story tower. The site is currently home to the SeaPort Marina Hotel, which, owner Raymond Lin tells the LAT, has gone "from four stars to three stars, to 1 1/2" since it was built in 1963. Lin is working with David Malmuth, who worked on Pasadena's Paseo Colorado and Hollywood & Highland, to redevelop the site. The LB planning commission approved this scaled-back version of the project last month.
The project would require amendments to the Local Coastal Program and the Southeast Area Development and Improvement Plan in order to allow a residential mixed-use project and the 12 story tower. According to the LAT, "City officials insist that the changes would apply only to the 2nd and PCH site."
The Press-Telgram reports that, "City staff is recommending that the council deny the five separate appeals [to the project], including one from the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, and approve the project." The Trust says the project could harm the Los Cerritos Wetlands; others say the plan will create traffic or worry that 12 stories is way too high for the area.
Charles Durnin, the lone nay vote from the city planning commission last month, told the LAT that Long Beach residents, "don't want something like Marina del Rey." Some locals, of course, are clamoring for a lawsuit. Mel Nutter, an attorney and former Coastal Commission chairman, told the P-T that a lawsuit challenging proposed height changes would be, "the perfect lawsuit, quite frankly...there's a serious question as to whether the environmental impact report is or is not in compliance with the legal requirements."
· Long Beach to consider upscale redevelopment of coastal hotel [LA Times]
· City Council to take up 2nd+PCH project [LB Press-Telegram]
· Legislation Detail [City of Long Beach]
· second+pch Archives [Curbed LA]
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