It took more than three years for a plan for the next half century to get to this point. The new one— the Southeast Area Specific Plan (SEASP)— aims to replace the former Southeast Area Development and Improvement Plan (SEADIP), which had been adopted in 1977. According to the SEASP documents available from the City’s website, the area is the city’s oldest planning district and includes several underutilized and aging properties as well as about 175 acres of undeveloped wetlands.
On June 1, the Long Beach Planning Commission effectively voted to recommend that the city council approve the SEASP, which intends to create a vision for the next 50 years for the area that includes the MarketPlace, Marina Pacifica and parts of the Los Cerritos Wetlands.
The goal of the new SEASP will provide a guide for future land use, mobility and environmental features, according to SEASP documents. There are specific guidelines that will also protect the wetlands, which is home to birds and other wildlife.
One of the controversial points surrounding the initial SEASP draft that was reviewed by the Planning Commission dealt with a proposal to allow a seven-story building, if a hotel is built.
Elizabeth Lambe, the executive director for the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, acknowledged at the Planning Commission meeting that while her organization has provided significant feedback on the SEASP throughout the process of development, they still voiced deep concerns about some of the details of the plan.
“We, the Land Trust and the community,” Lambe told the commission, “remain concerned about SEASP’s dramatic increase in maximum-height limits and scale for new development located adjacent to Los Cerritos Wetlands and the significant impacts from such development on the nearby wetlands and on the fragile species that depend on them.”
Before the meeting, in a statement to the supporters of the trust, Lambe emphasized her opposition to allowing seven-story buildings to be developed in the plan area.
While there may have been concerns that taller buildings could be hazardous for the birds that nest in the wetlands, the SEASP document did make recommendations for developers.
Jason Yakich, a professional wildlife biologist, submitted a letter to PlaceWorks, a firm that provided consultation services in the development of the SEASP. He concluded that many of the bird-safe measures outlined in the SEASP plan were sufficient, and he also made further recommendations.
“Following a review of the SEASP and DEIR,” Yakich stated in his letter to PlaceWorks, “I conclude that the bird-safe elements within the SEASP and mitigation measures within the DEIR are generally adequate for purposes of protecting biological resources in the context of proposed urban re-development within the SEA. Additionally, in order to further promote best practices relating to bird safety, I recommend consideration of requiring bird-safe treatments for the ground floors of developments that face the [Los Cerritos Wetlands Complex], and further promotion of the ‘[Lights] Out for Birds’ program as described in the SEASP.”
While Lambe and the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust had allies among community members who turned up to last week’s Planning Commission meeting to criticize elements the SEASP’s plan and voice their concern to protect the wetlands, there were others who saw that the SEASP offered new possibilities to create future housing.
Lee Vieira, who said that he is a real-estate lender in Long Beach, was one of the community members who supported the SEASP. He noted that there are already elements in the plan to protect the wetlands even more.
“We need a lot more housing in our community,” he told the Planning Commission. “The wetlands, as much as people want to defend it, is not dying.” Vieira noted that there are already ducks in the Park Estates neighborhoods as well as coyotes that hope to eat them.
“There [are] a lot of people that don’t want to see change,” he concluded, “but we need to have change in order to develop. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have the Port of Long Beach. We wouldn’t have a downtown Long Beach. Naples would be a mud swamp, and we’d all be living in tents.”
The Planning Commission acknowledged the concerns over allowing high-rise buildings in the area, and Commissioner Richard Lewis made only one change to the Planning staff’s recommendation before he formalized it in a motion. He added a provision that the buildings at the MarketPlace site have a limitation of five stories. The Planning Commission unanimously supported his change, along with his recommendation to adopt the conclusions and certify the final environmental-impact report associated with the SEASP.
