New Long Beach Coast SEADIP on Tonight's Agenda

Today’s Long Beach City Council meeting will feature an update of the South East Area Development and Improvement Plan, which is aimed toward improving the area enclosed by Seventh Street, Marina Pacifica and the Orange County border.

After rejecting the proposed 2nd and PCH project in part because it called for several deviations from SEADIP, the City Council Dec. 20, 2011 directed the city staff to form a SEADIP game plan.

The California Coastal Commission had urged against approving a 2nd and PCH development that it said might have opened a legal door for other SEADIP exceptions and greater density all around it. It urged the City to involve the community in a comprehensive update of SEADIP, which is the longstanding blueprint on what can--and cannot--be built in wetlands-dotted land; it stretches from roughly 7th Street down to the Seal Beach border, and around Pacific Coast Highway. An updated SEADIP seems widely favored by wetlands advocates, residents and developers. The approval of that endeavor, and the $1 million cost, is what's up for Council vote.

Such a SEADIP master plan would effectively create an EIR for numerous parcels rather than piecemeal by property. It could include amendments to the plan, as well as correspondence to the city’s Local Coastal Plan. (To see a map of the project area, click here.)

“The SEADIP update should proceed immediately, according to an aggressive timeline that ensures maximum input from community and environmental groups, landowners and the general public,” read a city memo. “Also input from the California Coastal Commission should be sought throughout the process.”

SEADIP focuses on implementing several much-needed improvements in the southeast section of Long Beach, namely the traffic situation, as well as possible further business development, the city says.

As many residents will remember, the most recent attempt at parcel development was the 2^nd + PCH Project, which was denied by the City Council.

“Updating SEADIP is so very, very important,” local consultant and environmentalist Heather Altman. “We need to be taking a big picture look at potential solutions to the traffic problems through the area. By alleviating some of the traffic impacts, we can plan for parcel redevelopment that fosters sensible growth and doesn’t just exacerbate an already bad traffic situation.

“Further, we can plan to develop the area in a way that compliments, not compromises, eventual wetlands restoration,” Altman added.

The City Council also provided a specific timeline for a SEADIP update, including acquiring a project manager (within the next month), an outline (due within two weeks) of how to include community, and an environmental review process on the amended plan (within a year).

“As with everything, the devil will be in the details…. details we will see once this process begins,” Altman said. “And begin it must. That’s why I’m very supportive of initiating this exercise. Beginning the SEADIP revision process is vital.”

Tuesday’s meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the City Council chambers.

Click here to see the city's web page on SEADIP.