Whatever happened to property rights? The current property is an eyesore and is a terrible use of the property. If you folks want a boutique hotel or an environmentally friendly project - then buy the damn property and do it yourself! The owners are a decent group - can't say much for the developers (don't know them too well, although one guy has lived in Long Beach for a long time, so he would have to live with what is built.) Rather than all of the nay-saying (of course the District loves innuendo, negativity, as opposed to constructive debate), why not put some good, useful ideas in?

I guess that means you believe a property owner should have the right to build a strip joint, adult book store, message parlor or liquor store next door to a public school or park. If not, where do you draw the line on what ordinance is acceptable and which ones should be ignored? Or is it that you just don't believe in city zoning ordinances created by the public?

Hello LBNative: I wrote this article and I do not work for The District.

If you go back and re-read this piece, you will see that it is silent with regards to the Project aspects. There is no commentary on whether or not this is an adequate Project. The focus of the article pertains to how the actions of the development team are stymieing the public participation process. In fact, hindering the ability to have the constructive debate you (and I) are wanting. Do you disagree?

As far as property rights (since you bring it up), I’m all for em…to the extent that what one wants to do with their property is consistent with the current zoning. But when one signs on to develop the property and knows full well going in that the current zoning restricts building height to 35 feet, it is hubris to expect that a 12-story “iconic structure” will be acceptable.

your neighbor is a good guy, long time resident and all, why not let him house sex offenders next door to you? the rights of property owners have been controlled for decades if not longer.

I am still trying to figure out how anyone thinks traffic will be 1% LESS in the morning if this happens?????????

That sounds like BS.

PLEASE
It's not fun being in the middle of an ex-lover's spat.
Give Venus, (just recently changed to "guest") her personal
property back!!
Rude of both of you...to air this on on a blog..and really SO boring! Yawn.

Can't really say why, but I suspect that there is something in play here other than an "ex-lover's spat". I'm not sure what it is, but I think there is a little tounge-in-cheek that just might actually have something to do with the topic at hand.

Maybe Venus/Guest will deign to share with us mere mortals what she was getting at. Or maybe I'm full of crap; wouldn't be the first time.

Wow.....there are lies, and damned lies, and Developer spin......to those who were there, does this thank you from the Applicants sound honest ?

This proves that they are liars, plain and simple, because this summation clearly misstates the true facts.

And what about the exclusive Naples Improvement Association stating ...we unanimously oppose this ?

The team mailed the well wishers this;




Friends:
> As you know, on Monday evening the City of Long Beach held a community
> meeting at Wilson High School to review the plans for our proposed
> development at 2nd and PCH. More than 100 people attended the meeting,
> many, perhaps most of them in support of the project and our vision to
> rejuvenate that neglected corner.
>
> You are one of these supporters, and we want to take a moment to thank you
> for attending the meeting, writing a letter, bringing friends or talking
> to neighbors about the benefits this project can bring to the City. All
> of these things are critical to the success of the project and all are
> needed as the review process goes forward.
>
> As we expected, some members of the community who attended are opposed
> to the project. Several of them, we believe, were determined to derail
> the discussion rather than engage in a constructive dialog about the
> potential benefits of the project. In our view, the best way to deal
> with the negativity is to involve good people who want an open
> discussion, progress for the City, and a project for 2nd and PCH that
> will succeed on every level.
>
> Thank you again for your support. It is greatly appreciated and truly
> valued.
>
> Sincerely,
> Cliff Ratkovich
> David Malmuth

RETURN MY PERSONAL PROPERTY TO ME.

Sounds fun !!

MOST were in support, SOME were opposed. Interesting developer spin.

That's similar to when the developer's lobbyist was conducting meetings at various resident and business associations in other parts of the city. He told the various audiences that Belmont Shore residents supported the project, despite outspoken opposition at the two BSRA meetings they conducted in Belmont Shore and hand polls and BSRA surveys that both indicated residents were opposed to the 12-story project and the traffic impacts.

It appears their mantra is to repeat over and over again that everyone loves 2nd & PCH until someone actually believes it.

Citizen Journalist Quote of Day – Question Authority

“Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities — the political, the religious, the educational authorities — who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing — forming in our minds — their view of reality.

“To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable open-mindedness, chaotic, confused vulnerability to inform yourself.”

(Source: Timothy Leary - “How to Operate Your Brain”)

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator..


At a morning press conference, the Attorney General said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement.

He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. 'Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said. 'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.' They use secret code names like 'X' and 'Y' and refer to
themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every triangle'.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Obama said, 'If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.'
White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President.
It is believed that the Nobel Prize for Physiques will follow----


Hmmm Makes more sense than some of the stuff around here..??

RETURN MY PERSONAL PROPERTY TO ME.

Said the Indians claiming the Wetlands by tribal right....???

good ol' wrong beach is
sucked dry by leaches
when money's on the table
delong and company are more than able
to get on their knees
and make sure they please
they'll ram it through
till their faces are blue
that's our history
folly and mystery
go near the port and choke
on the plumes of diesel smoke
the stench up and down ocean
all a disgusting motion
lets not mention second.

And the Poetry Corner Award goes to...... Big Bad John.....too funny !!

One wonders if Mr Toad feels inspired ? Where is 'The struggling poet...''

Mr Ruehle did some interesting art work recently......ask him for a copy of his photo with the big old Gary Rat ??? That was a gut buster.....

That image belongs on T Shirts....coffee cups....stickers.....coffee mugs...

Mike ! You have a new brand to market !!

Many share your frustration John. We cut cops, and every time you open the paper somebody is getting shot, we bleed the teachers so that the kids suffer cutbacks left and right, but the rich get richer, we dodge potholes like a third world country, while we pay beaurocrats fat 6 figure salaries, we have miles of curb that looks like Bagdad, but money to fix alleys behind friends commercial properties.

We have an ocean that gives you a rash, smells, and is a local version of the dead sea, but the Port likes it that way, so thousands flock to the beach's South of us all Summer to simply hear the rhythm of the sea, or swim,

We have the first or second worst air in America, but....The Port MUST grow......no debate.....we say it, thus it is so? Randy Gordon has issues a proclamation from high atop mount Bandini....

We morn murder after murder, so we close the police academy, cancel the recruit programs, cut back, what, around 78 officers, slash the school security cars, or juvenile cars, and we make amens with a donation to a fund.....way too little, way too late??

We have 5 bars in the shore driving residents mad up and down the streets as if Nuisance Law, the noise ordinances, the ABC policies and the conditions to their license are irrelevant, but that's OK, the Billions of dollars worth of adjacent real estate have limited, if not non existent rights to the Quiet Enjoyment of their land.....after all, we have regressed in many ways to th Wild Wild West.....as long as you are tight with a politician??

We allow a councilman to attempt to wholesale our surplus property inventory to a close buddy for pennies on the dollar while paying 3,4, maybe 5 times what the Wetlands are actually worth, and of course we design the deal to grant the same buddy millions and millions in oil revenue for free ?

We let another guy bulldoze wetlands as though the law has been repealed, we flush 20 Million down the tubes in a wholly negligent bond investment and issue no sanctions, rather, give awards, and now we have a mega density proposal looming over the wetlands for other buddies.

And it goes on, and on, and on.

Who thinks that downtown needs some new faces dedicated to change? How about a coalition to clean up some of these inside dealing problems ?

How about some new blood to fix a few things that are broken ?

OH NO !! We might upset a few Fat Cat's apple carts !!

Knowing what we do about the way that the game tends to get played, if we allow deLong and friends to get 4 more years, and keep the Gang of 5 quietly rolling along, this 2nd+PCH project, the re submitted Home Depot plans, the Wetlands Soccer Field, the 2nd Street Bar fiasco and much more, will roll along as usual, or gain momentum and cause further tension, legal distress, and resident back lash.

So many of these problems are largely political, but the powers that be think that we are stupid enough to be fooled repeatedly come election time.

It will take concerted effort, a lot of hard work, and a bunch of money , and tremendous good fortune to send DeLong and a few others home, but we have 5 months to do it, and plenty of resources and friends.

But if the leader of The Gang of 5 get's 4 more years......which is the stuff of nightmares....imagine how much impetus all of these problems will gain with a brand new 4 year mandate ??

One fine Civic Leader says that they will move, and send money for the lawsuits, as others have.

It might take 8 or 9,000 votes to unplug these rusted pipes, but we shall see.

Business as usual has not been so pretty recently, but we can fix it.

Putting ''The Delongoria ''at 2nd and PCH, or 'The DeLong Towers'', is nuts.....you'll be able to see the blinking red airplane warning light from Huntingtopn Beach !!

RETURN MY PERSONAL PROPERTY TO ME.

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!

WTF ?? Pay for the shipping and packaging.....no problem....lol

Quando sputate sul soffitto cade sulla vostra testa.

THE INDIANS HAVE RIGHTS TOO !!

Mike,
Yes, they have had their Scoping meeting,not done correctly, but never the less-- done! It's over. Comments on the meeting were to be written to the city. They are now doing the draft EIR.

That's not what Development Services Director Craig Beck said at the first meeting. Because many people were not allowed to speak, he said there would be at least two more scoping meetings.

Furthermore, at the first meeting, Beck's staff ran out of forms to submit comments during the scoping meeting. He told everyone to come to the next meeting to submit their comments.

Hi Mike: I have my CEQA 2009 book in front of me and I'm skimming through the regs. Under 15083 (early public consultation), there is not a clearly defined process - as in one must do a, b and c for a scoping meeting to be valid. 15083 also references 15082 (notice of preparation and determination of scope of EIR), which is a decidedly more exhaustive section. However, there is no mandated scoping process therein either (unless the project has federal jurisdiction, which this one doesn't). That is based on a reading of the regs; how case law interprets these sections may be a different beast.

At the initial scoping meeting, I do remember Beck stating that there would be additional meetings, but I do not remember if he called them "scoping meetings" or "community meetings." I am not doubting you, I simply don't remember.

The comment period on the NOP/IS has expired. Whereas the lead agency may accept "late" comments, they are under no obligation to do so. From a document preparer's standpoint, "dealing with" late comments is often very difficult, however, which is likely why these timeframes were established. Comments on the NOP/IS are not necessarily "exhaustive comments," and are (or should be) geared towards what one would like to see analyzed in the EIR (or what you believe doesn't merit future study). And I suspect the City/EIR preparer already know what issues need study, or they should at this stage.

My opinion is that the most "important" comment period is the comment period on the EIR. Filing comments on the adequacy of the EIR must be done within the (likely 45-day, though perhaps 60-day) comment period. One should not submit late comments on the EIR.