| Marina del Rey Boaters Claim Victory at Coastal Commission Meeting |
| By: Ambrosia Sarabia | Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:00:00 AM |
| Last updated: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 8:36:00 AM |
Commissioners recommend no cutbacks in boat slips.
MARINA DEL REY — After hours of listening to concerned citizens and boaters of Marina del Rey, the California Coastal Commission voted on a variety of recommendations for Los Angeles County’s Local Coastal Program (LCP) — and one included a unanimously approved recommendation that there be no further cuts in the total number of boat slips 30 feet and smaller.
 | | | Photo by: yachtphotography.com | | Slipping Away? -- The California Coastal Commission voted to maintain the current number of slips 35 feet and smaller in Marina del Rey. | | |  | | | Photo by: Ambrosia Sarabia photo | | A Full House — Marina del Rey boaters and area residents crowded into the California Coastal Commission’s Jan. 9 meeting at the Marina del Rey Hotel. | | |
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More than 80 boaters and area residents spoke — making PowerPoint presentations, displaying photos and addressing their concerns to commissioners during the Jan. 9 meeting at the Marina del Rey Hotel.
Boaters, residents, local activists and other interested parties filled the meeting room, and many voiced frustration that their concerns about changes at Marina del Rey were not being taken seriously by Los Angeles County officials. The public yelled out, clapped and booed during the first few minutes of the meeting, resulting in Chairman Patrick Kruer calling an end to the disorder. He threatened to allow only one speaker in the hearing room at a time unless order returned.
After presentations began, he did allow the now-quiet spectators to give thumbs-up and thumbs-down gestures to speakers during the meeting.
Many of the issues discussed surrounded a perceived lack of communication between Los Angeles County officials and the public, increasing boat slip fees, reduction in the number of boat slips, claims of mismanagement of the marina and Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHAs).
“We need this commission to send a loud message to Los Angeles County of Beaches and Harbors to discontinue the practice of the reduction of slips,” said Jon Nahhas, a boater in the marina. “This harbor started with 6,000 slips in 1978 and went down to 5,500 in 1996, then 4,500 -- and today, even though your staff has said (there are) 4,600 (slips), our count is 3,900. We are seeing a continual decline … this harbor that was created with $36 million of our public funds is diminishing.”
For months, activists, residents and members of the community have been circulating bulletins asking concerned members to attend the meetings, where they would be able to voice their concerns.
E-mails from We ARE Marina del Rey and the Marina del Rey Conservancy provided locals with a list of goals they hoped to achieve during the meeting, These included preserving Mother’s Beach as a public area and restoring safe use of the area by families and children from all over the county; preserving and enhancing the scenic views that give the marina its unique appeal; protecting Marina del Rey and the surrounding communities from project-driven development, and preventing long-standing boaters, residents and wildlife from being displaced.
At issue was the periodic review of the county’s Local Coastal Program (LCP), which was last updated in 1996. The document sets guidelines for development, and land and water leaseholds owned by Los Angeles County. The Coastal Commission is responsible for deciding if the LCP is being implemented in conformity with the Coastal Act.
In certifying the updated LCP in 1996, the commission certified the deletion of the ESHA chapter of the document, finding there were no ESHAs in the developed Marina del Rey area. It also, at that time, approved permits for marina dock redesigns that have reduced the overall number of slips, as stated in staff documents.
The 190-page report prepared by the Coastal Commission staff for the Jan. 9 meeting stated that parts of the LCP contained outdated information, changed conditions or policies that didn’t meet the requirements of the state Coastal Act. Staff recommendations included adding affordable boating opportunities, conducting assessment of a shuttle bus system, using boating data that is no more that five years old, prohibiting development of condominium hotels and timeshares, and strengthening policies to protect heron rookeries, as great blue herons, snowy egrets and black crowned night herons have been nesting in the marina area since 1996.
One by one, speakers took the podium -- and many combined information to make nine-minute PowerPoint presentations. While many spoke about scenic views that would become obstructed once buildings were constructed, others spoke about the need for an ESHA plan and decried the loss of boat slips at Marina del Rey.
The lack of communication between the county and its residents was another hot topic, as many speakers voiced their feelings about officials seemingly ignoring their input as the county pressed forward with its plans.
Coastal Commissioner William Burke asked Ron Hoffman, of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Department, about a public hearing that had been scheduled to take place before the Coastal Commission meeting. “Is it true that the Regional Planning Department decided not to hold a public meeting before this meeting?”
Commission Burke explained that he met with Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe over the holidays, and Knabe agreed to a public hearing. Burke later learned that the hearing was not held, and sought to find out who was responsible for making that “terrible” decision.
“Our department made a suggestion to hold a hearing after this meeting,” Hoffman explained. “We thought it would be premature to hold a meeting before.”
Commissioner Burke and Hoffman continued to discuss the issue, and Hoffman seemingly continued to sidestep Burke’s original question: Who made the call to not hold the hearing?
“I don’t want to be cross examined by you,” Hoffman said.
The commissioner’s question was never answered -- and that fact seemed to exemplify the crowd’s continuing frustration with county officials.
“Every action that takes place in the marina is determined by the marina director -- at his discretion. There is no neighborhood council; no rule by consensus. This cannot stand: We must have a community-elected port authority,” said local resident Donald Klein.
Once all the speakers had been heard, Coastal Commissioners began to deliberate on the issues.
Commissioner Sara Wan said that Los Angeles County was not acting in accordance with the LCP.
“There needs to be an overall recommendation that we need a comprehensive update that deals with all these issues that have been raised,” she explained to county officials. “You need to be in conformance with the LCP: You really can’t ignore it.”
Commissioner Larry Clark agreed: “The county needs to earnestly look at a comprehensive amendment to this LCP to address the issues that exist today. I believe, very clearly, there are changed conditions from when this LCP was certified -- and I think the residents and members of the audience who have spoken today have demonstrated a level of frustration and angst with the county that really needs to be heard and listened to by the county.”
Members of the audience signaled their approval to the commissioners as motions were made, with sighs of relief and thumbs up signals.
“I move that, in the appropriate place, it be amended there shall be no reduction in the number of boat slips -- and that there should be no reduction in the number of those under 35 feet or less,” said Commissioner Mary Shallenberger.
Other recommendations included an ESHA for Blue Herons, a comprehensive study of anticipated future development that includes all pending project-driven amendments, and fulfillment of the asset management strategy, and other facilities identified through a community planning process.
The county plans to involve residents, boaters and members of various interest groups in the area to gather a sense of the community’s feelings on the recommendations approved by the Coastal Commission by holding public meetings beginning late February or early March, Hoffman said.
This article first appeared in the January 2008 issue of The Log Newspaper. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
