Meeting Overview
The April meeting was lengthy and contained several contentious items. The Commission approved two projects that were strongly contested by coastal advocates—one project in Monterey for a mega-resort to be “built into” eroding dunes on sensitive habitat; and another project in Santa Barbara that will also be constructed on important coastal lands near a seal rookery and nesting areas for the White-Tail Kite. The Santa Barbara project was exceptionally controversial and disappointing because the Commission followed atypical procedures that effectively closed the public hearing, yet the Commission continued to negotiate with the developer from the dais. One positive outcome was the Commission’s vote to approve the Santa Monica Mountains Land Use Plan (LUP), which drew hundreds of people in attendance supporting the LUP. Another highlight was the denial of a new hotel in Long Beach that would have eliminated low cost rooms in exchange for high-end rooms. New Commissioner Erik Howell participated in this meeting and Jeff DuClos voted as Robert Garcia’s alternate.
Issues voted on at this meeting:
On April 11th, the Commission unanimously denied a Coastal Development Permit for the demolition of a 40 unit (low-moderate cost) motel for the construction of a seven level 72 room hotel and up to 33 residential condo units in Long Beach...
On April 10th, the Coastal Commission reviewed the Land Use Plan submitted by the County of Los Angeles for the unincorporated area of the Santa Monica Mountains (SMM), in the coastal zone. Without a certified LCP, the Commission...
On April 9th, the Commission heard an appeal on two large-scale residential estates, approved by Santa Barbara County on the Gaviota coast. The proposed project would be constructed on sensitive coastal habitat that is home to special status...
On April 9th, the Commission devoted 10 hours to an application by Ed Ghandour – Security National Guarantee Inc. (SNG), to build a ten-story, 368 unit luxury condo and hotel complex on 39 acres of coastal sand dunes in Sand City, (Monterey County)...