Public Comment Correspondence – Anna Christensen
From: Anna Christensen [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, May 2, 2023 10:16 AM
To: CityClerk <[email protected]>
Subject: City Council Meeting 5/2/23 Public Comment
-EXTERNAL-
Complaint re Application 2301-03 (SPR23-001)
Dear Decision Makers,
The Los Cerritos Wetlands Task Force would appreciate an explanation as to why the City of Long Beach has permitted the Boathouse on the Bay to submit Application 2301-03 (SPR23- 001) to make permanent a temporary tented dining structure on public land after being notified by California Coastal Commission Enforcement that this development should be immediately removed as it is in violation of both the City’s Local Coastal Plan and multiple Coastal Act regulations.
Since March, we have sought information from both Development Services and the Economic Development Department regarding the status of the Boathouse on the Bay's tented structure currently occupying a public area in the Alamitos Bay Marina. Promised communications from Mary Torres, Economic Development’s Real Estate Development Bureau Manager, have not materialized. Assurances that our questions would be answered in days, became “shortly", and then were delayed until the "review process" was completed. We have heard nothing from Ms.
Torres since her email of April 1st.
On April 20th, Maryanne Cronin, Planning Bureau, Development Services Department, sent us the Notice of Received Application, presumably now under consideration for approval by the City. As we understood from Maryanne Cronin in March, this Application had been “on hold” since January, as it could not be completed until the fee was paid by the Applicant and the property owner (the City of Long Beach) had signed on. Although both the temporary permit for this structure and the extension period to apply for permanent status had expired, The Notice of Application was filed on April 19th, nine days after the Coastal Commission Complaint was issued on April 10th.
Did Mary Torres, representing the City of Long Beach, sign on to this Application knowing that the structure was unpermitted and in violation of the LCP and Coastal Act? Did Maryanne Cronin, representing the Planning Bureau, process this Application, after receiving notice that the Coastal Commission considered the application period to have expired? How is it that other City Staff involved in the “review process” and notified of the Coastal Commission Complaint ignored its conclusions and allowed this Application to be filed? We seek accountability from those charged with managing our public lands, presumably for the public good. The privatization and monetization of the commons is being normalized in the name of economic development. When City staff assume that citizens who have legitimate concerns can be put on hold indefinitely as questionable decisions are made and challenged projects move forward, there is no public trust.
We now bring this matter before our elected officials and ask to meet with Kristina Duggan, Third District City Council Representative, and Mayor Richardson at their earliest convenience.
Respectfully, Anna Christensen and Ann Cantrell, Co-chairs, Los Cerritos Wetlands Task Force, Sierra Club See documents attached
Contact [email protected]