City of Hermosa Beach
NOTICE OF APUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE HERMOSA BEACH CITY COUNCIL REGARDING AN OIL DRILLING AND PRODUCTION PROJECT IN HERMOSA BEACH TO CONSIDER PLACING A MEASURE ON THE NOVEMBER 5, 2014 BALLOT FOR THE VOTERS TO CONSIDER WHETHER TO APPROVE THE PROJECT AND ADOPT AN ORDINANCEAPPROVING A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT, AMENDMENTS TO THE HERMOSA BEACH GENERAL PLAN/COASTAL LAND USE PLAN AND MUNICIPAL CODE AND A PIPELINE FRANCHISE
E & B OIL DRILLING AND PRODUCTION PROJECT
PROJECT TITLE: E & B Oil Drilling and Production Project (SCH# 2013071038).
PROJECT APPLICANT: E & B Natural Resources Management Corp., 1600 Norris Road, Bakersfield, CA 93308
PROJECT LOCATION: 555 6th Street, Hermosa Beach (site for proposed oil project; currently the City’s Maintenance Yard) and 1315 Valley Drive/552 11th Place (site for relocation of City Maintenance Yard; currently City Hall parking and Hermosa Self-Storage) within the City of Hermosa Beach. Proposed oil and gas pipelines and associated meters and valve stationswill extend into the Cities of Redondo Beach and Torrance.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Applicant proposes to develop the 1.3-acre Project site at 555 6th St., Hermosa Beach, currently used as the City Maintenance Yard, as an onshore oil drilling and production site using directional drilling to access oil and gas reserves in the tidelands and uplands within the Torrance Oil Field, with 30 production wells, 4 water injection wells, liquid and gas separating equipment, and gas processing unit. In addition, the Proposed Project would result in the installation of offsite underground pipelines for the transportation of the processed crude oil and gas from the Project Site to purchasers, extending through the Cities of Redondo Beach and Torrance. The Applicant proposes a laydown site for supply staging/storage within the basement level of the industrial building at 601 Cypress Avenue during the construction phases. The Applicant also proposes to construct a parking lot at 636 Cypress Avenue for use by some of its construction employees/contractors on weekdays and by the public at other times.
The Proposed Oil Project would occur in the following four phases:
- Phase 1: Site Preparation, including relocation of the City Maintenance Yard to the temporary facility;
- Phase 2: Drilling and Testing of three oil wells and one water disposal/injection well;
- Phase 3: Final Design and Construction of both the oil and gas facility and the permanent City Maintenance Yard; and
- Phase 4: Development and Operations, including drilling of the remaining wells over 30 months and re-drill of wells periodically through the life of the project.
The Applicant proposes a facility designed for a maximum capacity of 8,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 2.5 million standard cubic feet per day (scfd) of produced gas at completion of the drilling stage of the Proposed Oil Project in Phase 4.
Proposed oil project approvals, which will require voter approval, include General Plan, Coastal Land Use Plan, Zoning and Municipal Code, and Oil Code amendments, and a Development Agreement, and an oil franchise.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT:
The City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach will hold a public hearing on Tuesday July 22, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. , in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach, California, to (1)consider placing a measure on the November 5, 2014 ballot for the voters to consider whether to approve the E & B Oil Drilling and Production Project, including an ordinance that (a) amends the City’s Coastal Land Use Plan (part of the City’s General Plan) to adopt an industrial/energy policy (oil and gas recovery) consistent with E&B’s proposed project and amends land use designations to allow the Proposed Project to proceed; b) amends various provisions of the City’s Municipal Code (including the zoning ordinance and oil code) to allow E&B’s proposed project to proceed but continue to prohibit oil drilling elsewhere in the City; c) approves a development agreement between the City and E&B in order to provide E&B with a statutory vested right to proceed with its proposed project and sets forth all conditions of approval and mitigation measures that will govern the project; (d) grants a pipeline franchise; and (e) makes certain CEQA findings; and (2) consider the Hermosa Beach Planning Commission’s affirmative recommendations on the abovementioned legislative actions that the Hermosa Beach voters will need to adopt in order for the project to proceed.
ANY AND ALL PERSONS interested are invited to participate and speak at these hearings at the above times and places. For inclusion in the agenda packet to be distributed, written comments of interested parties should be submitted to the Community Development Department, Planning Division, in care of City Hall at 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 no later than 12:00 noon, one week prior to the hearing date. All written testimony by any interested party will be accepted prior to or at the scheduled time on the agenda for the matter.
IF YOU CHALLENGE THIS PROJECT IN COURT, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the Community Development Department, Planning Division, at, or prior to, the public hearing [Government Code Section 65009 (b), (c)].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, please contact the Community Development Department, Planning Division, at (310) 318-0242 or fax to (310) 937-6235. The Department is open from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. A copy of the staff report in the City Council packet will be available for public review at the end of the business day on Thursday before the meeting at the Hermosa Beach Police Department, Public Library and, on the City’s web site at www.hermosabch.org, click on “agendas/minutes/video”, click on City Council Agendafor the July 8, 2014 meeting. Relevant Municipal Code sections are also available on the website.
Elaine Doerfing
City Clerk
Easy Reader Inc/Redondo Beach News/July 10, 2014/HD14-049
