Coastal Commission Delays Hearing on MdR Development

Byline: Taylor Hill

MARINA DEL REY — Future development at Marina del Rey was again put on hold by the California Coastal Commission, as the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors announced that the commission has decided once again to push back the planned hearing on four projects.

The commission was originally scheduled to discuss and consider the projects at its June meeting, but it postponed the item for its Oct. 15 meeting in Huntington Beach, citing a lack of staff available to complete the report in time.

While the Coastal Commission gave no specific reason for the latest delay, Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors director Santos Kreimann said at the Sept. 14 Los Angeles County Small Craft Harbor Commission meeting that it could be due to the need to brief new Coastal Commission executive director Charles Lester on development issues.

The November Coastal Commission meeting is planned in Oceanside, meaning Marina del Rey residents and others opposed to the development will have to travel farther to participate in the discussion.

The four projects of the planned 17 in the Marina del Rey redevelopment plans are in need of land-use designation changes in the county’s Land Use Plan and Implementation Plan, which requires Coastal Commission approval.

“Pipeline projects” that the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors has combined for review together include:

* Neptune Marina: a 400-unit apartment complex to replace a 136-unit apartment complex, along with an additional 126-unit complex to be built on an existing public parking lot.

* Oceana Retirement: a 114-unit senior retirement living center with 3,500-square feet of retail space and 92 public parking spaces.

* Boat Central: a dry stack boat storage facility with 375 spaces, 3,080 square feet of office space and 3,350-square-foot boatyard facility.

* Launch Ramp Facility: a proposed mixed-use facility with 135,000 square feet of visitor-serving commercial space and up to 26,000 square feet of office space for the Department of Beaches and Harbors.

In December, the Los Angeles Regional Planning Commission approved the projects in a 3-1 vote. In February, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the redevelopment plan unanimously, leaving the Coastal Commission as the last regulatory board needed to approve the project. If approved by the commission, the individual projects will need to go through the planning process before development is approved.

A fifth “pipeline project” was removed from the list by the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission in December 2010. It would have taken over much of the public parking near Mother’s Beach, replacing it with a 292-unit apartment complex.