| On Thursday, April 20th, the Long Beach Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of a new development proposed on the corner of Studebaker and PCH (currently Congressional Place). The current two-story building (over one level of parking) will be demolished and replaced with a 6-story residential building with 281 units and 3,000 square feet of retail space. Due to California’s low-income housing laws, the development is allowed more height than a market rate development would receive under the new SEASP regulations. That is because the new development will contain 13 low-income units that qualify for additional stories and other benefits. For the record, we don’t deny that California needs more affordable housing. However, this development (likely the first of many in the area) will be denser, higher, and more traffic-generating than the current structure on the property. We worry about how all of that will impact nearby fragile wetlands. We reviewed the development carefully and while there are some important and good things about the project (bird-safe lighting and native plant landscaping for example) we are still scratching our heads about a couple of things and shared our concerns with the City in the form of this letter. We appreciate our good dialog with the project proponents and plan to continue to engage with them about our concerns about the project. Stay tuned, as we learn further details we will share them with you. |
Planning Commission votes for a proposed development near Los Cerritos Wetlands
