Shore Residents Question 2nd + PCH Developer

The proposed 2^nd and PCH condo-hotel-shopping complex highlighted Thursday’s Belmont Shore Resident’s Association meeting, where project developer David Malmuth fielded questions. Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, perhaps the largest organization that opposes zoning a 12-story tower on the already congested intersection, had a previously scheduled restoration meeting at the same time.

Still, nearly fifty members of Belmont Shore and neighboring communities were in attendance Thursday, a large majority of whom asked Malmuth logistics questions. In two words: traffic and height. Would traffic worsen and how much? The primary focus of questions regarded potential increase in traffic that would accompany the retail-restaurant-hotel complex and the height of the proposed hotel-condominium structure.

Currently, the plan, in mid-October, incorporates a 12-story building, 275 residential units, 175,000-square-feet of retail space, a 100-room hotel, 20,000-square-feet of restaurant space and a marine science-learning center.

While Malmuth acknowledged the inevitable increase in traffic, he attempted to ease the minds of those in attendance by pointing out the positives of the project, namely job opportunities.

“We believe that the first work opportunities will and should go to the people of Long Beach,” Malmuth said. “We want to benefit the community as a whole.”

As far as the height of the building, some residents questioned its fit, considering few buildings near 2nd Street are remotely close to 12-stories. Until the Planning Commission meeting Oct. 2, zoning for the area has stood for decades at three stories max.

Malmuth, who for a couple of years has name-dropped popular stores Urban Outfitters, Apple, Anthropologie, and Sephora as retailers possibly interested--but none close to signing leases--feels that the 2^nd and PCH project has the .

“It turns out, if you create the taller element, it allows you to open up the site more,” Malmuth said. “We felt we could do it in a way that would create a beautiful building, would not overwhelm the site, and would give us the right balance.”

“We think this should be a gateway site, which suggests to us that it should be an iconic building,” Malmuth said.

Also in attendance was environmental consultant and Belmont Shore resident Heather Altman, who is not in complete opposition of the project, but is wary of the planning going into such a large-scale endeavor.

Altman commented that the current plan is solely attributed to the project developers rather than the city.

“What we have currently is an amendment to the original master plan that is developer-driven and is an exercise in spot-zoning,” Altman said. “It’s one person coming in saying we should throw out the zoning and do what they want and call it a day.”

Altman’s word choice of the night was “comprehensive,” maintaining that the project in its current form has not considered long-term effects or been fully thought out, pointing out the fact that the 2^nd and PCH development may stymie other projects in the future.

“You need to be fair to not only this developer, but the other developers in the area as well so that one player is not getting everything and leaving the rest with nothing,” Altman said. “You need to take that big picture look when you do a rezoning effort, and that’s not what’s happening here.”

She is referring to past suitors for developments in other parcels fanning out around the worst-congested intersection in a 50-square-mile city--2nd and PCH--and others that would be heavily impacted by the project proposed. Studebaker's on and offramps to freeways are also impacted.

What Altman has discussed in the past is the need for all the properties around the intersection--some of which are wetlands--to be part of one master plan. In it, the area would be evaluated for how much in total traffic the roads can absorb, and then that traffic allowance would be divided up. Same with air pollution from thousands more vehicles per day, as well as the infrastructure for water, sewer ad so forth. If the Market Place across PCH indeed wants to redevelop itself, will there be any traffic allowance left for an existing development with its own investiment?

On Thursday, supporters and naysayers were in attendance, as an impromptu straw poll held at meeting’s end showed a dead heat between yes and no votes amongst shore residents.

In fact, of those in attendance--not all Shore residents--17 people voted in favor of the project, while 13 voted in opposition and six were undecided.

“If it is a project designed closer to the scale of everything else around here and doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb, you have something that more people will get behind,” Altman said after the meeting.

Needless to say, Malmuth disagreed.

“I feel like most people are willing to look at the big picture,” Malmuth said. “Even though there are going to be some negative impacts, there are going to be more positive ones.”