Coastal Agency Sets Hearing Date for Marina del Rey Redevelopment Proposal

A November hearing date has been set by the California Coastal Commission to consider a major redevelopment proposal for Marina del Rey despite requests to delay the hearing until it could be held locally.

The statewide panel, which oversees coastal development, will consider a request by the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning for a Marina del Rey Local Coastal Plan Major Amendment. The major amendment is a long-term redevelopment and land-use plan that changes zoning rules to make way for several redevelopment projects in the aging marina.

The Nov. 3 hearing will be held in Oceanside, roughly 95 miles south of Marina del Rey, despite pleas to delay the meeting until it could be held closer. Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose 11th District includes Venice and Playa del Rey, sent a letter to Charles Lester, the new executive director of the commission, requesting the hearing be continued to its meeting in January 2012, which is scheduled to be held in the Los Angeles or Orange County areas.

"Holding the hearing in Southern California makes more sense. The County of Los Angeles has proposed a major amendment to the current Local Coastal Program. The proposed changes may have serious, long term impacts on my constituents living around Marina del Rey," Rosendahl said in his letter.

The Santa Monica-based law firm of Chatten-Brown & Carstens also sent a letter to Lester on behalf of We ARE Marina del Rey, a grassroots group committed to preserving the marina's recreational resources. The request for a continuance (see attached) argued that a delay would "fulfill the Legislature's intent 'that the public has a right to fully participate in decisions affecting the coastal planning, conservation and development'" and also said a delay would give California Coastal Commission staff more time to review the county's 2010 traffic study.

The letter said two recent Court of Appeal cases may require a reevaluation of the county's study that relied on May 2009 traffic counts and 2020 projected traffic conditions in the 1996 Local Coastal Plan.

The commission was expected to hear the matter at its June meeting in Marina del Rey, but that was postponed due to commission staffing constraints. The meeting was rescheduled to October in Huntington Beach, but was postponed again last month.

The county's Department of Beaches and Harbors has been shepherding the changes to the Local Coastal Plan through a regulatory process that has been going on for roughly a decade.

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission in December voted 3-1 in favor of the redevelopment plan. The planning department removed a project from consideration that would have reduced parking near Mother's Beach to make room for a three-building complex that would include 292 apartment units, 32,400-square-feet of retail space and 323 restaurant seats. The project had been decried by rowers who use the lot to park while they enjoy time on their kayaks, canoes and paddleboards.

In February, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously endorsed the major redevelopment plan despite protests from a busload of residents.

Opponents of the redevelopment plans view the county's action as a gift to developers at the expense of county residents and claim it is against the mandate that the marina be preserved as a recreational destination for county residents.

The major amendment to the redevelopment plan would change zoning rules for four so-called Pipeline Projects that have been bundled together for consideration. They are:
1. A 400-unit apartment complex replacing a 136-unit complex and a 126-unit apartment complex on an existing public parking lot.

2. A 114-unit luxury senior housing complex.

3. A dry-dock boat storage facility for 375 boats.

4. A proposed mixed use-facility that could include more than 116,000 square feet of commercial space, 255 residential units and a new 26,000-square-foot facility for the county's Department of Beaches and Harbor.

The proposed plan also has been criticized because it calls for a reduction of the overall number of boat spaces, or slips, to accommodate longer and wider boats. Critics claim the move favors the wealthy at the expense of boaters who can't afford larger craft, while county officials have produced reports pointing toward a trend of larger boats.

Marina del Rey is in unincorporated Los Angeles County and is overseen by the county's Department of Beaches and Harbors. Long-term lessees operate the housing units, boat slips and commercial venues in the marina, including restaurants and hotels.

The marina's lessees are taxed and generate about $40 million annually for the cash-strapped county. The money goes to the county's general fund to pay for such items as law enforcement and health care programs, but some of it also goes to the Department of Beaches and Harbors for beach projects and maintenance throughout the county.

The county's redevelopment plans lately have been challenged by the Venice Neighborhood Council and Del Rey Neighborhood Council, whose constituents live adjacent to Marina del Rey.

The Del Rey Neighborhood Council at its Thursday meeting approved a resolution supporting the need for a comprehensive environmental impact review that considers the regional impacts to city residents of constructing 17 new developments in the marina. The Venice Neighborhood Council in July approved a resolution seeking more environmental impact data from the county for a proposed 114-unit luxury senior retirement facility and in August rejected the county's traffic study and formally opposed the reduction of public parking in the area.