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By Joe Mello | March 17, 2008
I received the following email from Mary Parsell, President Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust concerning an online survey the City of Long Beach is conducting regarding updating the zoning plans for South East Long Beach. Mary and the rest of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust has been very concerned about development in South East Long Beach. Please take time to let your voice be heard on this very important survey. The information and link to the survey is provided below:
The City of Long Beach has begun a process to update the specific zoning plan for the far southeast area of the city. This is the area bounded roughly by 7th St. on the north, the county line on the south, Marine Stadium on the west, and the San Gabriel River on the east. The old plan, the Southeast Area Development and Improvement Plan (SEADIP) was drawn up about 30 years ago.Since that time the original concept of the planners for mostly low-rise development with water views and emphasis on preserving and restoring the wetlands has been overridden several times by individual variances, with unsatisfactory results. What is more, not all of the area now considered part of SEADIP was included in the plan, and some provisions conflict with the California Coastal Act. For example, the building on any part of the wetlands is likely to be rejected, especially when considering the loss of so many wetlands since the original SEADIP was written.
The way the Planning Department has decided to start the SEADIP revision process is by taking a city-wide survey, either via paper questionnaire at the various meetings where city planners have been invited to bring their PowerPoint presentation about the Southeast Area, or electronically via the Internet. This survey asks about the participant’s preferences regarding the future of the southeast area. The Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust has some concerns about this process: Because people cannot currently access the wetlands, it is hard for them to understand the extent and value of this asset. Our contacts with the public lead us to believe that most Long Beach residents have only the vaguest idea that these wetlands exist. We had hoped, therefore, that the process of assessing public opinion would include more education about these estuarial wetlands than can be found in the PowerPoint presentation. Although our concerns have been expressed to the Planning Department, they appear firm in their determination to conduct the survey as it is and have set March 31 as the last day to participate.
We recommend, therefore, that our members and friends take the survey by the end of March 31. To do this via the Internet, go to www.longbeach.gov/plan
Click the Planning tab; then, under Information, click Special Studies where the SEADIP plan is the last choice. You can look at the city’s PowerPoint video, read the original SEADIP, read completed surveys, and take the survey yourself. And if you have concerned friends and neighbors, please ask them to participate in the survey as well.For the wetlands,
Mary Parsell, President
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust
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