Frustration bubbled up during Tuesday’s meeting of the Redondo Beach City Council, as Measure C, which passed by a 57-to-43 percent vote on March 7, dominated once again.
Measure C, also known as the King Harbor CARE Act, was written by activists to halt the development of CenterCal’s multimillion dollar Waterfront: Redondo Beach redevelopment plan. One significant reasoning for fighting the project, activists contended, is that the it doesn’t protect waterfront recreational and boating uses in King Harbor.
The night was scheduled to feature a legal opinion on Measure C by City Attorney Michael Webb. However, at the beginning of the meeting, it was announced that Webb was taking six months medical leave for a sudden medical condition.
Instead, John Wellner, the City’s outside legal counsel, offered an opinion that was developed in consultation with the City Attorney’s office.
First, Wellner said, they believe that Measure C does not go into effect until certified by the California Coastal Commission, based on a 1987 ruling that a city or county cannot change a Coastal Commission-certified zoning plan without the Commission’s approval.
Staff also recommended that Council agendize a public hearing to discuss and consider a resolution to submit Measure C to the Coastal Commission.
Supporters of the measure have argued that Measure C doesn’t need certification by the Coastal Commission, due to its intent in “tightening up” existing zoning restrictions in King Harbor. They said that Redondo Beach could simply drop the measure text and certified election results into an envelope and send it to the California Coastal Commission, saying that it’s simply the new law of the land.
As such, proponents of the measure requested that the City Council pull an agenda item to vote on a resolution which would have certified Measure C and sent it to the Coastal Commission.
Webb did just that on April 12, stuffing six large envelopes in full view of the public, then asking Assistant City Attorney Cheryl Park to drop them into a mailbox outside of City Hall. However, he also warned that wouldn’t be enough.
“I’m confident that we’re probably going to get a letter from the Coastal Commission asking us to pass a resolution, and we’ll be back here again,” Webb said.
The “Groundhog Day”-like repetition of Measure C’s certification before the Coastal Commission brought some members of the public, and their legal teams, to a boiling point.
“Tonight is the fifth meeting after the vote was certified, and this measure has not been certified,” said Frank Angel, an attorney representing Building a Better Redondo, an organization formed by activist Jim Light. “I’ve been instructed to, and will, file suite of writ of mandate if at the next meeting this resolution is not approved and transmitted…it’s incomprehensible that the city power structure can just ignore 9,229 votes.”
Some residents, such as John Simpson, were also confused.
“I happened to vote against Measure C…but I thought at this point, it’d be sent in and then let it take the next step,” Simpson said. “I think it’s best to move things along and see what happens next.”
“I’m hearing from the same group of people, on the same side, saying two different things: One, to not hold a hearing because it’s a delay tactic, and the other that we need to have a hearing,” said Councilwoman Laura Emdee. “So, do we need a hearing on Coastal Commission guidance?”
Yes, Wellner said, based on a prior Coastal Commission position with Monterey County.
However, that clarification simply outraged some residents, who began chanting “do your jobs” at the council members, before being shut down by Mayor Bill Brand.
“If you put the ordinance in the mail to the Coastal Commission, isn’t that what was necessary?” asked resident Joan Irvine.
“It accomplished nothing,” replied Brand, who had previously pushed for an ordinance. “There’s a code in the Coastal Act about how to present an amendment to the Local Coastal Plan…putting it in the mail is not sufficient.”
The Council then agendized a public hearing, scheduled for May 23, to pass the resolution to send the Measure to Coastal Commission, more than one month after an attempt to do just that was pulled off of the Council agenda.
