During its Oct. 1 meeting, the Long Beach City Council concluded two hearings, accepted a corporate donation for a public playground and discussed the feasibility of municipal ID cards. The following are highlights of the meeting.
The Breakers
The council concluded a public hearing concerning an economic subsidy in connection with a transient occupancy tax-sharing agreement with Breakers Development, LLC for the property at 210 East Ocean Blvd.
The council voted 7-0 to authorize the execution of documents and the agreement with the LLC for the development of an upscale independent boutique hotel.
The development includes: conversion of the existing historic building– which began as a high-end hotel in 1926 but, from 1990 to 2015, served as a senior housing facility– into a luxury hotel and spa; 185 rooms averaging 400 square feet; dining and entertainment, including over 12,000 square feet dedicated to food and beverage; and more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space/ballroom.
The developer would be responsible for making improvements to the nearby Victory Park.
Staff indicated that the project is expected to create 500 temporary construction jobs and 240 permanent jobs.
The projected development cost is approximately $135 million, which equates to about $729,000 per room. Staff said the high costs of redevelopment are because of the adaptive reuse of the historic building, which has experienced extensive deferred maintenance and dilapidation.
Staff also indicated that the projected transient occupancy tax (TOT) to the City would be about $42.6 million over 20 years and $73 million over 30 years.
Per the sharing agreement, the developer would receive 80% of the TOT, and the City would retain the remainder, which would be about $13 million over the nine-year assistance period.
The requirements of the developer include a minimum investment of $70.7 million for direct construction costs and a minimum AAA-rated four-diamond hotel for 20 years.
Anaheim Street
The council also concluded a public hearing and adopted a resolution– in a 7-0 vote– continuing the East Anaheim Street Parking and Business Improvement Area assessment levy for the period of Oct. 1, 2019 through Sept. 30, 2020, and authorizing the acting city manager to extend the agreement with the Zaferia Business Association for a one-year term.
Corporate donation
In a 7-0 vote, the council also approved the acceptance of a donation from The AES Corporation in an amount not to exceed $500,000 for the development of a new playground at Channel View Park in the 3rd Council District.
Councilmember Suzie Price, who represents that district, explained that members of the residential community located across the street from AES had contacted her office to request that a more “active park” be developed nearby.
“So, we reached out to AES, and they were immediately gracious and very generous and agreed to help partner with the City to develop this park,” Price said.
Parking audit
The council voted 7-0 to request that staff conduct a red-curb evaluation in neighborhoods with limited parking spaces to find any possible removals or reductions in order to increase available on-street parking while maintaining safety.
“We think that we can recoup some additional parking spaces if we have the opportunity to conduct a red-curb audit in parking-impacted neighborhoods,” Price said. “I know that, where we have a parking-impacted neighborhood, being able to get an additional spot or two on a street makes a huge difference for the business corridors and for the multi-family residences that are usually located in parking-impacted areas. We also want to look proactively at how we can try to find efficiencies with our current parking configurations in [those] neighborhoods.”
[related title=”Related Stories” stories=”44450,44230″ align=”left” background=”off” border=”none” shadow=”on”]Product ban
In an effort to combat the reportedly harmful effects of vaping, the council also voted 7-0 to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance temporarily banning the sale of flavored vapor products in Long Beach.
“I’d also like to encourage us to work with some of the community organizations that do education around this issue,” said 8th District Councilmember Al Austin. “I think all of us as councilmembers can help reach our school-age children and help our parents as well.”
HIV/AIDS program
In a 6-0 vote, the council also authorized the acting city manager to execute an agreement, including changing the grant amount, with the California Department of Public Health, to accept and expend grant funding in an amount not to exceed $1,215,325, for the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Program, for the period of July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2024.
Identification cards
Per an agenda item from 5th District Councilmember Stacy Mungo, the council voted 7-0 to request that the acting city manager work with the Technology & Innovation Department and all other appropriate departments to work together, research and report back within 180 days on the potential costs, benefits, partnerships and challenges of a City of Long Beach-issued identification card to consolidate and streamline residents’ transactions among various city departments.
During public comment, resident Corliss Lee said she was not aware that ID cards were even necessary and that the idea “smacks of Big Brother and a watchful eye of the City” that would keep track of residents’ activities.
“I think that makes people fearful,” Lee said. “I wouldn’t want to inhibit their participation in anything by them being paranoid that their participation is being tracked.”
Mungo said that, in the last few months, she has been reaching out to various community leaders to get their feedback on the matter and that several other cities in the nation use such an identification system, which is actually digital and can be used on phones. She added that it would be an opt-in service.
The Long Beach City Council meets at 5pm on Tuesdays, with the exception of the last Tuesday of the month, at City Hall, 411 W. Ocean Blvd.
