Okay, good morning everyone. Welcome to the Friday session of the California
Coastal Commission. May we begin with a roll call please. One second.
Present. Commissioner O'Malley. Present. O'Malley. Commissioner Eckerley. Here.
Eckerley. No es palante today. Commissioner Hart. Present.
Commissioner Jackson? Present. Commissioner Kelly? Here. Commissioner Conkle? Here.
Commissioner Kalmick? Oh, Commissioner Lee is here. Commissioner Kalmick? Here.
Commissioner Moreno? Commissioner Wilson? Present. Chair Harmon? Here. Oh, Commissioner
not on. Here. Okay we are all here. May we have the virtual meeting procedures
please. Good morning. This Coastal Commission meeting is occurring both in
person and through zoom. This meeting is also being webcast and can be viewed
online at Cal-band.org. If you have internet access and wish to watch or
listen to the meeting only and not speak on the item we recommend you use the
Cal-SPAN website. Those who wish to address the Commission today can do so
in person through the Zoom platform or by phone. The speaker request forms may be found
on the Commission's webpage, pay-per-forms, and a scannable QR code for paper and submittals
are available on the Commission's staff table just outside the meeting room. For those on
Zoom, we have posted virtual hearing procedures on the Commission's agenda webpage, which
is a guide on providing comments via Zoom or by phone. Members of the public speaking
during general public comments may be given up to two minutes to speak at the discretion
of the chair. Request to speak during general public comments period will not be accepted
after 9 a.m. on each day of the meeting. In order to provide the opportunity for the broadest
range of public participation you may speak on a specific topic one time only each month.
Those speaking on the agenda item that is not general public comments are typically
allowed two to three minutes to speak at the discretion of the chair. We will accept a
request to speak on a regular agenda item up until the chair opens the hearing on that
particular item. If you have internet access, please go to the Commission's webpage and
click on the link to fill out a speaker request. If you do not have internet access or prefer
to testify by phone, please call the Commission staff at 562-477-9089. Again, that number is
562-477-9089.
So I will provide you with a telephone call in number and instructions for how to participate
and provide testimony by phone.
We will manage speakers coming in and out of the meeting through a meeting organizer.
When is your time to address the commission?
The organizer will invite you to turn on your video and microphone or provide instructions
on how to unmute the phone.
Madam Chair, that concludes the virtual hearing procedures.
Great.
Thank you very much.
over to our chief counsel for a report out from closed session. Thank you, Madam
Chair. Yesterday the Commission met in closed session, it received litigation
information and advice and took action on the following cases. Friends of
Oceana Dunes, Inc. et al. vs. California Coastal Commission et al. Bellaire Bay
Club vs. California Coastal Commission and City of Fort Bragg vs. Mendocino
Railway. It also received litigation information and advice and on space
Exploration Technologies Corporation versus California Coast Commission and
that concludes my report. Great, thank you very much. And now Mr. Hudson to you
for agenda changes please. All right, and good morning Chair Harmon, Vice Chair Hart
and Commissioners. I will now go over those changes to the agenda. First, item
8a is moved to consent. That's the City of San Buenaventura, de minimis, LCP
amendment for accessory dwelling units. Item 8B is moved to consent. That's the
County of Santa Barbara LCP amendment time extension dealing with mobile home
overlay. Item 8.1A will be moved to consent the Lipsman CDP application and
item 10A is planned to be moved to consent. That's the city of Long Beach
LCP amendment dealing with inclusionary housing. That concludes the changes to
today's agenda that brings us back to item 4 general public comment and with
that I'll turn the mic back over to you Madam Chair. Great thank you okay to
Simone for public comment please thank you. Great from members of the public I
will be announcing the names of the upcoming speakers and invite you to
speak when it's your turn. Each speaker will be allowed two minutes during the
general public comments at the discretion of the chair. In order to
allow for live video testimony on Zoom will be bringing you in as a panelist.
As we bring you in, your Zoom will reload. This may take a moment to speed up
the process. We will bring several people in at a time. That means do not decline.
Thank you. But please remain muted and keep your video off until we ask you to
speak. After your time is up, you will be moved back to attendee mode. For members
of the public present in the room, I will call your names in that or in the order
that they appear on our sign-up list.
When you hear your name, please line up behind the podium
and introduce yourself when you approach to speak.
There is a raise hand function that will help us find you
in the attendee list.
If you are using a phone for audio,
you can raise your hand by dialing star 9.
If you are participating by Zoom,
you should see a button on your Zoom screen.
If you have signed up to speak for this item and are able
to do so please raise your hand now. When it is your time to speak we will invite you
to unmute and turn on your camera. You can unmute yourself on a phone by dialing star
six. First up we have Izzy Seistik in person and Brigida Bauer in person and then we'll
go to zoom after that. Okay, they're not here. I don't see Izzy's sister so let's go ahead
to Brigida Bauer. Yes please. Push the button on the podium. On the base of the mic. There
you go. And in, okay. My name is Brigida Bauer and I live right over here.
Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you for the work you do and happy 50th anniversary.
I hope you have had occasion to check out Surfers Beach less than a mile down the road.
The Coastal Commission is requiring Caltrans to find 75 parking spaces for Surfers Beach
if they are going to be allowed to put in bike lanes instead of the informal car parking
along Highway 1. Make sure that you approve parking for Surfers Beach that can be a list
work as parking for surfers and people going to the beach, bringing kids and
stuff for a day on the beach. So parking within walking distance from the beach
with a restroom, Caltrans finds walkable as a quarter mile. The
Harbour District is trying to sell the idea to you in Caltrans of a new parking
lot half a mile from the beach. This would earn the Harbour District $150,000
from Caltrans. Meanwhile there is a four acre piece of land next to the beach
west side of Highway 1 with a new four million dollar restroom. Most of that
land is occupied by the Pillar Point RV park. When the restroom was installed the
general public parking space is decreased from 21 to 6. These six remaining
spots are mostly unavailable to the public. They are used as overflow parking
for the RV vehicles. The RV park, the Harbor District, as well as Half Moon Bay, will not
put up day use on these signs, required by the P2P and the Coastal Act. Half Moon Bay
gets $100,000 plus a year in taxes. The Harbor District gets $16,000 a month in rent. And
the owner of the Pillar Point RV park is Keith Niren, who also happens to be the owner of
hotel and the new RV park next to it and a lot of properties on the coat
style. This property should go back to public parking instead of being an RV
park. Thank you. Thank you. Now we are going to our zoom. We have Nathan Brenner
followed by Robin Davidoff, Kent Allen, Janet Rogers. Nathan Brenner just a
client so we'll go ahead and go to Robin Davidoff. Robin if you can unmute
yourself. Hello can you hear me? Yes. Okay I had a presentation that I submitted. Yes
give us a moment please. Okay I'm Robin Davidoff, Sierra Club Seal Society Chair.
Next slide please. La Jolla Cove, could you get to the next slide please? La Jolla Sea
Lion Pepping season starts May 1st just 87 days away. In December the San Diego
Park and Recreation Department told this Commission that they would have
Rangers at the La Jolla Cove seven days a week onboard 10 volunteers and install
new signage. Over the past two months we've seen Rangers have increased their
presence but announcements are made infrequently as few as one to two per
hour and only one volunteer has been seen off and on and no new signage has
been installed. Next slide please. Rangers duties are defined by the city of San
Diego to assist the public in the use of regional parks, to conduct interpretive programs,
and patrol city parks.
To protect the public, Rangers must be staffed on the beach as authority figures to manage
the area, provide crowd control and education.
Rangers must also make announcements frequently about the safe viewing distances.
We recommend 25 feet for this pocket beach, and encourage people to move to the viewing
areas above.
Next slide, please.
Pups are vulnerable in the first few months of life.
They cannot swim at birth and cannot swim well for two to three months.
They're left unintended by their moms on busy beaches for long periods of time when they
go out to feed.
And people approach these very cute pups and try to pet or pick them up.
Next slide please.
In 87 days, who will protect the pups, kids as seen in this video, sorry, kids as seen
in this photo, or rangers.
We support keeping the beach open year-round.
However, we request the CCC staff to instruct the city
to implement a plan before May 1st.
And that requires Rangers on the beach
making frequent announcements,
a protocol for placing cones and tape around newborn pups,
A-frame signs on the beach,
and temporarily close the western gates
when sea lions are on the stairs,
keeping the Easter gate open all the time.
We have 87 days to get this done.
Thank you. Next we're going to try Nathan. If you can unmute yourself.
Nathan Brenner. I see you unmuted. Mm-hmm. We see you go ahead and start Mr. Brenner.
Thank you. Yesterday we showed you a video of ongoing harassment of
sea lions and the lack of management at the Loya Cove in San Diego. The video was
supposed to be followed by the presentation of Robin Davidoff which she
just gave today. Instead of repeating the video, I want to recap some of the accomplishments
that this commission and the city have made thanks to Commissioner O'Malley for taking
on the role of liaison. For the past year, we've been presenting to this commission
about the need for ranger management at the Lohajah Cove and the progress has been made.
The city modified a long-term management plan so rangers assigned to Point Lohajah could
patrol the Lohia Cove. Rangers are making announcements to the public to stay back
from the sea lions yet more frequency is needed. In order to solve the problems that we're going
to have at Lohia Cove when popping season arrives we have got to have Rangers on the beach
coordinating with the lifeguards and managing the crowds. We're on the countdown to popping
season and this needs to be taken care of before May 1st. The city is close to implementing a
a viable plan that would protect the public
and newborn pups.
It needs more work to protect the public and the pups,
and it's expected in just 87 days when May 1st arrives.
After meeting with city officials,
we get the impression that the city's resistance
to fully implement a viable plan may be political,
with no one wanting to take responsibility.
We've even heard that the city is waiting
for the commission staff to tell them what to do.
In Robin's presentation, she offered simple, easy management,
easy to implement management solutions for the city
to put in place before pumping season begins on May 1st.
Please consider her request for the CCC staff
to instruct the city to put these no-cost management
solutions in place by May 1st.
We are counting on this coastal commission
to prevent unnecessary sea lion pup death
and worst feelings for a zero pup death
puppy season for 2026, thank you.
Thank you, next is Janet Rogers followed by John Simpson,
Lydia Ponce, Terry Saussier, sorry if I said that wrong,
and Pam Bond.
Janet Rogers, are you gonna unmute yourself?
I see your video is on, but you need to unmute.
Okay, Janet, I'm gonna let you work on that.
We're gonna go to John Simpson,
if you can unmute yourself, John.
Yes, hi, thank you, good morning commissioners.
My name is John Simpson.
I'm a long time fan of the Coastal Commission's work
and a long standing resident of the Carpentaria Valley.
I just recently learned of the proposed development
at the mouth of the Carpentaria Salt Marsh
at 501 Sandpoint Road in Carpentaria.
And I must say I'm truly shocked that you all approved
at any level of project on that small, very special,
extremely ecologically sensitive location and I'm to the core opposed to this project.
Slide two. Having spent an extensive amount of time on the California coast, beach going, surfing,
sailing, et cetera, the coastal commission is historically symbolized to me a state agency
that stands up to inappropriate development and has been steadfast on protecting our vital
coastal environments. You're well accustomed to lawsuits from developers. They try to strong arm
through their projects. And since the Coastal Commission is no stranger to legal challenges,
as exemplified by the endless list of cases on this month's closed session agenda, etc.,
to quickly buckle on the threat of a takings claim in the case of 501 standpoint and approve
a project in one of the most treasured and ecologically sensitive locations
across the state is extremely concerning and I was stunned when I read how little the
environmental review was and how limited the opportunity was for public comment and scientific
review. Please be true to the Coastal Commission's mission and the Coastal Act and stand up for
preserving our coastline by stopping this project. Please roll it back to allow for a legitimate
seek review through a complete environmental impact report. To conclude that this proposed
project only have a minor impact that warranted only a mitigated negative declaration makes no
sense to me at all. So thank you for reconsidering this ill-advised project and carefully considering
my remarks. Thank you we're going to go back to Janet Rogers. Hello I'm Janet Rogers co-chair of
the Embarcadero Coalition. Can we trust the Port Trustees? Next slide. The Port Act requires support
to develop the bay for the benefit of the people. The purpose is to protect, preserve, and enhance
physical access to the bay. Next slide. I started identifying concrete examples of missing public
access in July of 2024. The port didn't reply, so I went to the Coastal Commission staff. Next slide.
The most egregious abuse is the rooftop reading club in the Intercontinental. This space is
is permitted to be a bar and public terrace.
Next slide.
The Reading Club violates the lease,
the coastal permit and the public trust doctrine.
It's a private club with hand-selected membership.
Are you the right type of person?
Do you have $2,400 yearly?
September of 2025,
coastal staff told the hotel and port
that it does not conform to the coastal permit
for a public rooftop terrace.
The hotel must become compliant.
Nothing has changed.
The application form is still active.
Are they renewing memberships and taking new ones?
Is that fraudulent?
Next slide.
The reading club took a precious free,
elevated view of the bay from the public.
The port and hotel make a lot of money.
See part of the lost public view.
Next slide.
Is the port incompetent or complicit
in taking away public access?
Three grand jury reports didn't fix the problems.
Heavy lobbying stopped an ethics code.
Did they not want to be ethical?
I've shown multiple public access abuses
on the Embarcadero since 2024.
What about the rest of the port?
Many are still unresolved.
Where are the serious repercussions?
Why is everything about making money
instead of the basic mission for the benefit of the public?
You're the watchdog, where is your bite?
Next slide.
if the trustee can't be trusted to fulfill
its basic mission, what are you going to do about it?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next is Terry Saucia, followed by Pam Bond,
Mike Fleming, and Margaret Malloy.
We're looking for a Kent Allen and Lydia Ponce.
If they show up, we'll move them over.
Terry Saucia.
Good morning commissioners.
I'm with the SoCalSTOP artificial turf task force,
a coalition of more than 50 organizations
working to get new installations of artificial turf banned and aligned surrounding communities.
I'd like to begin by thanking you for your work to keep our oceans and watersheds safe for human
health, the environment, and wildlife. Thank you, too, for your report on plastic pollution
and recognizing that artificial turf is a significant source of plastic pollution or
watersheds and oceans. Your 2023 decision to deny UC Santa Barbara permit to put in a plastic
baseball field in the California Coastal Commission zone was vitally important. Today, your diligence
and oversight is more important than ever. The artificial turf industry is lobbying hard and
pitching school districts and rec and parks to install multiple plastic playing fields including
places like the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District and other rec and parks specific
palisades. A number of these fields are in the California Coastal Commission permit zone and
directly adjacent. We also just learned ESPN wants to install a plastic field on the beach in Santa
Monica and the City of Malibu has put on several plastic fields on its beaches. I understand
resources may be limited. However, the Commission does not prioritize stopping and calling out
these projects. The lobbyists, school districts, and rec and parks will take it as a sign they
can go full steam ahead. You will be sending a pro-artificial turf precedence that will be
impossible to reverse. Please set the record straight. Let the Santa Monica Malibu School
District and the LA Rec and Parks know they cannot install artificial turf in the Coastal
Commission Permit Zone and why. Please also develop a strong artificial turf policy that
that clearly states artificial turf is never allowed
in the Coastal Commission permit zone
and put a robust enforcement program in place.
We depend on you to protect our waterways and oceans
for our children and future generations.
Thank you.
Thank you, Pam Bond, Mike Fleming, and Margaret Mullay.
My name is Pam Bond.
I have a presentation.
If you can just advance them every 30 seconds,
they're just background illustration.
I am asking that you please stop approving projects
with artificial turf and synthetic surfacing
in the coastal zone.
A 2023 study of ocean and river waters
found that 15% of mezzo and microplastic
came from artificial turf fibers.
If you read artificial turf warranties
over eight to 10 years,
the field is expected to lose up to 50% or more
of its blades.
It's been said that manufacturers are improving their product
to reduce blade loss,
but I'm sharing photos of a new product advertised
as having no microplastics.
What were these detached blades exposed to the elements
but microplastics in waiting?
One task in ideally yearly artificial turf maintenance
is measuring blade height.
I'll include graphs in a follow-up email.
This along with the warranty expecting blade loss
illustrates that these fields shed plastic readily.
Promises of maintenance to collect this breakage falls short.
Some blades and infill are swept up, but what isn't collected attaches to clothing, shoes, and equipment, and some is transported by wind and rain.
What will happen during wind, rain, and flooding events at sites along the coast?
There's no accounting for where the used plastic turf carpets and plastic infills will go at the end of their life either, near a river, stream, or ocean.
There's a site in Pescadeo not far from the ocean that stockpiles this plastic waste out in the open while waiting for potential resale.
Artificial turf fields have no enforceable regulations
for maintenance or management of environmental impacts.
Measures might be put in place
to attempt to mitigate the pollution,
but who will enforce this?
I hope that you can hold on to the astute concerns
that your commissioners voiced in 2023
and protect our coastal waters from this
and other forms of plastic pollution.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mike Fleming, Margaret Malloy,
and we're still looking for a can't allen and lydia ponce if so please raise your hand
function on the zoom please mike flimming yeah hi this is mike flimming i am currently a us
licensed captain with the coast guard um yesterday you heard from a number of speakers from newport
beach i hold a mooring permit and a heavily regulated liveaboard permit there and i'd like
to continue to live and work in the harbor taking us out on the water after yesterday's
public speakers, District Director Schwing noted that state lands and coastal are working
with the city. Please recall that a year ago yesterday, myself and a number of others spoke
before this commission in Long Beach regarding another city plan which the commissioners
described as a horrible plan. And they inquired of the city, why we're not, this is your terms,
why we're not the experts here in the room being consulted. On the agenda for next Tuesday
city council meeting is an item to form an ad hoc committee
of two council members who adjust to address the current
tight lands issues in Newport.
We know an ad hoc committee does not have to comply
with Brown act, the Brown act, AKA open meeting laws.
We don't believe that continued exclusion of stakeholders
at this stage in the process is conducive
to equitable solutions.
And then after it to save time and money for all involved,
we urge the commissioners in working with the city
to encourage the city to engage the, as you recall,
as you call this, the experts in the room
to avoid a repeat performance of February 5th, 2025.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you.
Next is Margaret Molloy.
She'll be the last one we don't see.
Kim Allen or Lydia. Hi commissioners I'm talking about the Venice land use plan.
So as you may know Tracy Park is our council woman on October 28th she
introduced a City Council motion it's council file 25-1282 titled
certified Venice land use plan Venice coastal zone commercial use ordinance
amendment but she hasn't brought that to the Venice community and it's just
unconscionable that that would be the case. The community plan is a community
effort it's not directed by politicians and in this case that appears to be what
Miss Park is endeavoring to do. Her motion includes the statement it is of
critical importance that the council direct the Department of City Planning
to prepare an amendment to the certified land use plan to clarify policy I.1, which currently
states that commercial use of industrially designated land shall be restricted.
In so much as California Coastal Commission staff have interpreted this language as a
prohibition on commercial uses on industrially designated land, which is inconsistent with
the city's long-standing practice of allowing certain commercial uses on industrially designated
land as allowed in the zoning code and more specifically within the Venice Coastal Zone.
Ms. Park has it backwards.
She's a lawyer herself.
She's got staff who are land use consultants.
State law preempts local zoning and ordinances.
And she's not even bringing this to the Venice community.
There was one single line in her monthly newsletter.
That's it.
It hasn't been to the Venice Neighborhood Council.
It hasn't been presented as a public discussion.
That's a taking of property value, the most extensive area of commercial, I mean of.
That's when land is in Oakwood.
Thank you.
A neighborhood under attack.
Thank you.
So next we'll go with Karen Allen, Lydia Ponce.
It doesn't look like we see them.
you guys can raise your hand. Okay. Great, thank you very much and thank you to the
public. I'll return to the Commission and to Commissioner O'Malley. I think you
wanted to make a brief comment. Yeah thank you Chair. I just want to thank the
folks from La Jolla who keep showing up month after month for their advocacy and
the push for further measures at the Cove and I'd say especially as we lead up
the popping season. I've personally seen some improvement but I agree additional
measures need to be taken on Wednesday and I'm gonna follow up Wednesday. I
I received a message from staff at the Mayor's Mayor Todd Glur's office, but I was here meeting so I
Wasn't able to take it and I owe them a response while connect Monday and you know
Just assure the public that I'm going to continue to work as a liaison here to see how we can implement those additional measures
So thank you
And thank you Commissioner O'Malley. We really appreciate it. Okay, and with that, let's move on to the consent calendar, please. Mr. Hudson
Thank you, and the next item on the agenda is the consent calendar for all districts on the agenda today
There are two items on consent and staff is not aware of any opposition to these items
Both applicants are in agreement with the staff recommendations and the staff is recommending the Commission vote and approve the consent calendar
Thank you. Are there any expertise?
Say none any public comments. There are no commenters great
Okay, well I will return to the Commission for a motion comments questions move consent
Some motion by Commissioner not off a second by Commissioner Wilson. May we have a roll call vote, please?
Yes, Commissioner. O'Malley
Yes, O'Malley. Yes
Commissioner Hart
Yes, Hart. Yes, Commissioner Jackson. Aye
Jackson yes, Commissioner Kelly. Yes, Kelly. Yes, Commissioner Lee. Yes
Lee, yes, Commissioner Kalmick?
Yes.
Kalmick, yes, Commissioner Notoff?
Aye.
Notoff, yes, Commissioner Moreno?
Moreno, yes.
Moreno, yes, Commissioner Wilson?
Yes.
Wilson, yes, Chair Harmon?
Yes.
Harmon, yes, the vote is unanimous.
Thank you, the consent calendar is adopted.
Mr. Hudson, back to you.
Thank you, that brings us to item six.
Item six is for applications to be moved
from regular to the consent calendar today.
and that's for all the districts on the agenda.
As mentioned during the agenda changes this morning,
there are four items that we're recommending
be moved to the consent calendar,
and those are item 8A,
the city of Ventura de Minimis, LCP amendment,
dealing with an update for accessory dwelling units.
Item 8B, the county of Santa Barbara,
LCP amendment time extension,
dealing with the mobile home overlay.
item 8.1a the Lipsman CDP application and item 10a the City of Long Beach LCP
amendment dealing with inclusionary housing. Now there is an addendum for
item 10a the Long Beach LCP amendment with or inclusionary housing and it
responds to an email received from a member of the Sierra Club requesting
this item be continued to allow for additional changes as explained fully in
that addendum staff does not believe there is a basis under the standard of
review which is the city's certified land he's planned to make the additional
changes that were requested and thus we continue to recommend this item be moved
to consent calendar today in closing staff is not aware of any opposition to
any of the other other items being moved to consent and we're recommending that
the commission vote and approve this item staff is available for questions
Great. Thank you. Are there any ex partes? Seeing none, any public comments? Just available for questions. Great. Thank you. So I'll return to the Commission. Comments, questions, or a motion please.
I'll move the consent items that are, all the items move to consent. Second.
It's a motion by Commissioner Wilson, a second by Commissioner O'Malley. May we have a roll call vote please?
Commissioner Hart? Yes.
Hart, yes. Commissioner Jackson? Aye.
Jackson yes commissioner Kelly yes Kelly yes Commissioner Lee yes Lee yes
Commissioner Kalmyk yes Kalmyk yes Commissioner not off I not off yes
Commissioner Moreno Moreno yes Moreno yes Commissioner Wilson yes Wilson yes
Commissioner O'Malley yes O'Malley yes chair Harmon yes Harmon yes the vote is
unanimous. Great thank you those items are approved. Now rolling right along to
item 7 please. Thank you and item 7 is the deputy directors report for the
South Central Coast District which this month includes one immaterial permit
amendment, two permit extensions, one certification review, and one emergency
permit. In regard to that emergency permit I would note that it was issued
to the University of California at Santa Barbara. For the temporary placement of
of 300 sandbags for erosion protection
of Lagoon-Burm Road, a campus point, on the UCSB campus.
And that was for a temporary period of 90 days,
after which time the sandbags must be removed.
We also have one certification review being reported today,
and that is for an LCP amendment by Ventura County
to update its housing ordinance to add density bonuses
and special needs housing provisions
consistent with new state laws.
The county's amendment was approved by this commission
at its October meeting and the executive director
has determined that the local government subsequent action
accepting all of the commission suggested modifications
pursuant to a resolution is legally adequate
and that this amendment will become certified
upon being reported to the commission today.
This matter is being reported pursuant to our regulations
and thus does not require any additional action
or concurrence.
Staff is not aware of any opposition
to any of the items being reported today
and we are asking whether three or more commissioners
object to any of the items for which action is needed today.
Staff is available for questions.
Great, thank you.
Are there any ex partes?
Any public comments?
None.
Great.
Do three or more commissioners object to any of the items
in the report requiring concurrence?
Seeing no objections, the commission concurs.
Okay, that brings us to 8.1 B, I believe.
Thank you.
It does bring us to 8.1 B,
which will be presented via Zoom by Sam Fuhrer,
a Coastal Program Analyst
in our South Central Coast District.
We have a PowerPoint for this item, please.
And if we could pull that up.
Thank you.
All right.
Good morning, commissioners.
The next item is 8.1 B,
a CDP application by the University
California Santa Barbara for the construction of the university's Cobley Institute for Theoretical
Physics or KITP house project, a new three-story 33-unit residential building, and 33-space parking
lot to provide housing for the KITP program postdoctoral scholars, visiting graduate fellows,
and long-term visitors and their families. Next slide please. The subject site is located within
than a 1.24 acre undeveloped parcel,
which is owned by the university
and located within the unincorporated community
of Isla Vista in Santa Barbara County.
Although Santa Barbara County has a certified LCP,
Coastal Act Section 30519B provides
the commission review coastal development permit applications
for projects by any state university or college
located in the coastal zone.
Therefore, the commission rather than the county
is the review authority for this application.
And the standard of review for this project
is the chapter three policies of the Coastal Act.
Next slide, please.
The subject site is located at the northern boundary
of Isla Vista at the corner of El Callejo Road
in Camino Pescadero.
The lot is surrounded by existing residential development
and previously served as an unofficial parking area utilized
the adjacent Friendship Manor retirement community. The site is located approximately
one quarter mile west of the university's main campus and 1.1 miles west of Cone Hall which hosts
KITP programming at the university. The proposed development would provide university adjacent
housing for longer term KITP participants and would accommodate increased parking demand
through the construction of a new 33-space parking lot on site for residents including four EV
spaces and through the provision of visitor and staff parking in the university's parking lot 53
located directly across the street to the north and that's highlighted here in a white box to the
north of the yellow box. Residents and visitors alike would also have access to 60 new bicycle
parking spaces onsite and to an existing rideshare car located at lot 53. The project would also
include the protection in place of a single-coast live oak tree, the removal and replanting of two
mature cork oaks, and the installation of drought tolerant and majority native landscaping following
project construction. Next slide please. The university has proposed mitigation measures to
address parking and transportation demands that would result from the proposed development and
staff is recommending special condition one to memorialize these requirements for the life of
the development. Special condition one requires that proposed parking and transportation resources
are maintained by the university or by any future successor or assigned to the permit
throughout the life of the proposed development. Specifically including 33 vehicle parking spaces
onsite for residents, 60 bicycle parking spaces onsite for residents, guests, and employees,
and memorialization of the agreement that offsite vehicle parking for guests and employees of the
development will be made available at parking lot 53 immediately north of the subject site.
This condition also requires that an existing ride share vehicle located at lot 53 shall be
maintained with discounted access throughout the life of the proposed development and that
all residents and employees of the subject development shall be informed of nearby public
transit options, onsite bicycle parking, and offsite car share locations to encourage the
use of alternative means of transportation. In closing, as conditioned, staff believes
that the proposed project is consistent with the Chapter 3 policies of the Coastal Act.
The motion to approve the coastal development permit can be found on page four of the staff
report.
And before concluding staff's presentation, we would note that staff is available for
questions and I will now turn the mic over to Steve Hudson for additional comments.
Alright, thank you, Sam.
I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank the university staff for working with
our staff to address some of the issues with this project and note that this project is
occurring on one of the four properties that were subject to a recent LCP
amendment that was approved by the Commission that was rezoned in order to
accommodate multifamily housing including this project. And that was an
LCP amendment by Santa Barbara County and it was necessary in order to meet
the state's housing requirements. I'd also like to note that this project we
were able to bring this quickly to hearing and is an example of how your
staff continues to work to address the housing crisis that is a statewide issue
and expedite exactly these sorts of projects. And I would note that we were
able to accomplish that in a way working with the university that is also
protective of coastal resources so again I'd just like to thank the university
for their assistance and with that I'll close close our staff presentation and
just note that we are available for any questions great thank you very much
are there any ex partes any public comments yes we have one speaker Josh
Romer and Josh you should be able to be moved in as panelists right now Josh
seems like you're not able to move over okay now Josh is in you should be able
to unmute good morning all thank you I've been promoted to a panelist good
Good morning Chair and Commissioners. My name is Josh Romer. I'm the Director of Capital and Physical Planning at the University of California Santa Barbara.
I'd just like to briefly thank you for your consideration of the KITP House Project, which will provide housing for staff, researchers and long term visitors to the Cavalry Institute for Theoretical Physics for KITP.
The project has been designed to meet the needs of future residents, support KITP's world class research, and complement the surrounding community of Isla Vista.
This is a quality addition to the housing inventory in IV and the broader UCSB community.
We appreciate staff's careful work to assess the project and its alignment with the co-select
and we ask for your support and your approval.
Thank you.
Thank you.
No more speakers.
Great.
Thank you very much.
Well, hello to Mr. Romer.
It's very nice to see you and I'll take chairs prerogative to start by just saying how excited
I am that this project is moving forward.
And to reiterate Mr. Hudson's comments about what a successful partnership this has been,
and I'm so proud of the UCSB team, the entire Santa Barbara community.
This is exemplary of what we can do when we really put our heads together and think about
getting through the process efficiently.
I mean, this was just, I guess, back in November or December that we did that rezone, and here
we are now.
a huge success and it's going to be hugely impactful in our Santa Barbara community.
So Mr. Romer, my specific thanks to you and please convey my thanks to the entire team.
I will be very proudly voting yes today.
So with that, I'll turn it over to my colleagues for comments, questions or a motion.
I would give you the prerogative of making the motion if you want.
Yeah, absolutely.
Go for it.
Oh, well, I've been operating under the assumption that I can't, which was maybe self-preservation
a little bit, but with that I will move that the Commission approve coastal
development permit number 4-25-0717 pursuant to the staff
recommendation and I'm asking for a yes vote please. I'll second. Thank you. So
that is a motion by me, a second by Commissioner Notoff. We're asking for a
yes vote. May we have a roll call please? Commissioner Jackson. Aye. Jackson yes.
Commissioner Kelly. Yes. Kelly. Yes. Commissioner Lee. Yes. Lee. Yes. Commissioner Kalmyk. Yes.
Kalmyk. Yes. Commissioner Nodoff. Aye. Nodoff. Yes. Commissioner Moreno. Moreno. Yes.
Moreno. Yes. Commissioner Wilson. Yes. Wilson. Yes. Commissioner O'Malley. Yes.
O'Malley. Yes. Commissioner Hart. Yes. Hart. Yes. Chair Harmon. Yes.
yes. Harmon yes the vote is unanimous. Great the permit is approved congratulations. Okay
now we'll move on to item nine please. Thank you and that item nine is the deputy director's
report for the South Coast District which includes seven permit waivers, two immaterial
permit amendments, one immaterial permit extension and one emergency permit. I would note that
staff has one change to the deputy director's report. One of the waivers CDP application
5-25-0341-W by Myrtle Avenue LLC for the demolition of three detached garages
and sheds and construction of a new residence in Hermosa Beach is at the
city's request postponed and removed from the items being reported as part of
the deputy director's report today. In addition in regard to the emergency
permit being reported it was issued to Joseph Marino for an approximately 100
foot-long soldier pile wall system with tie backs and that was to remediate a
bluff slope failure on a property with an existing residence a bluff slope
property in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes. And moreover staff received
objections from members of the public in regard to one of the immaterial permit
extensions being reported today. That was the CDP extension for application
A-5-VEN-21-0011-E2 for the Venice Place Hotel project by Windcoup
Properties LLC. Now we have some speakers signed up for that item today but I
would note that because the objections were received within the 10-day period
for public comment after the deputy's director's report was published, this
item will be brought back at a future hearing, likely our next meeting in March
for action by the Commission with additional information by staff to address the issues
raised in the objections.
So those speakers who signed up to speak today will have an opportunity or another opportunity
at our next hearing to address this item.
And finally, staff is not aware of any opposition to the other items being reported today and
thus we are asking whether three or more Commissioners object to any of the items in the Deputy
Director's Report. Staff is available for questions. Great, thank you very much. Any
ex partes? Okay, we'll go to public comment, please. All right, and we have the four speakers.
Robin Rudicile, Margaret Molloy, Amanda Seward, and Allie Milsbean. Robin Rudicile, when you're
able to, please go ahead. Hi, good morning, thank you. Robin Rudicile, Citizens Preserving Venice.
Regarding this Abbot-Kenny Hotel extension, we'll just give you a preview today, and we'll be back
next month. We had many important points, several of us were going to make this morning but having
just heard the hearing fraction will likely be next month, you'll see us then too. Our major
concerns are the change circumstances regarding the COVID adjustment in the feasibility analysis
and the change circumstances with other major projects in the surrounding area as well as
implementation of the al fresco dining program which is now permanent and it's it's removing
on street sidewalk and on-site parking. The first CDP for the permanent al fresco dining
program was approved just recently on January 12th. So the program is well underway and the
projected reductions in available parking are very significant. Also in mid 2025 the city planning
staff determined that Windward Circle, the bus stop area, is a transit hub and a significant
change in circumstances for this project because it means the area around the project is now covered
by AB 2097, which will also significantly reduce available parking. So these very significant
changes subsequent to the project approval are increasing traffic, reducing parking availability,
and at all at the same time the North Abbott-Kinney Boulevard area development
intensity is significantly increasing. This affects coastal access especially for surrounding
residents who already have traffic pressure and working class visitors. These are real cumulative
foreseeable impacts that now exist because circumstances have changed. The Abbot-Kinney
Hotel Project is the biggest and most impactful Venice has ever seen. Please look very carefully
at our concerns and at our evidence and we hope you will require a full public hearing before
extending a permit that rests on outdated assumptions and conclusory findings. Thank you.
Thank you. Next is Margaret Malloy.
Hello. I have written to you and I hope that you see it in the correspondence.
Lobbying registrations are required to protect the public interest and avoid undue influence.
Failing to register as a lobbyist is a violation of the Fair Political Practices Act.
On December 15th, 2022, the commission approved the original permit here with Ted Harris as the
representative for applicant Dan Abrams. On November 27th, 2024, the executive director approved a
one-year extension for applicant Dan Abrams and representative Ted Harris. And now on January 26th,
the executive director has tentatively approved one-year extension again for applicant Dan Abrams
and representative Ted Harris. But the California Secretary of State political reform division's
lobbying team confirmed that Ted Harris has never registered as a lobbyist for Wynn Cook
Properties LLC. And California Strategies and Advocacy has never been registered as a lobbying
firm for Wynn Cook Properties LLC. The Fair Political Practices Commission cannot take
enforcement action on prospective violations, but these are already approved violations.
So you cannot knowingly take yet another vote on a violation of the FPPC.
So I'm asking you to formally contact the FPPC and ask for official guidance on this
matter.
It's a very important violation of the state law.
Thank you.
Thank you. Amanda Seward.
Thank you. Amanda Seward here. Given the statement that this will be heard in the next hearing,
there's not much to say except that we will be looking closely to see that regulation
13.169 is followed. And what it will require is that the executive director report whether
or not the allegation of any of the extension may affect of chapter 3. It doesn't say that
there are changed circumstances that only that there may be changed circumstances. And
if there is that binding and we don't see how there couldn't be since there was this
reliance on the financial report that gave them special dispensations because of COVID
and the need for higher cap fees.
We think that certainly COVID is over and so I don't see how you could say that there
are these change circumstances of COVID no longer being an issue may affect the consistency
of the development. So with chapter three policies of the Coastal Act. And if he makes
that determination, what happens then is they don't have to do another application but merely
answer the issue about whether there are new circumstances or changed circumstances in a
public hearing and that's what we would be requesting. Thank you. Thank you. Ali Milsby.
Good morning commissioners. If my teeth are chattering I got locked out of my cabin up in
the mountains trying to get reception to be able to talk. Didn't realize that this was going to be
heard again next month. So the only thing I just wanted to add and I'll be really brief,
not in the legal aspects, but because of what Amanda just said, I agree that this definitely
should be reheard. But I want to just remind the commissioners that are going to look at the notes
that this hotel is like on one special parcel of it, but all of it is really the corners of the
oldest African-American community in Los Angeles, certainly in Venice, but in Los Angeles. And
they felt that they were shut out of the communication, and one of the parcels in particular
is three over 100-year-old bungalows that were very sacred to that community. They had,
first it was dwellings and then they had stores out of there, but it's very much a part of their
community, and in one of the drawings they were going to save those bungalows and make them part
of the hotel, which really mattered, and then because of the COVID finding that they had
financial hardship that went away. And so if that could be re-looked at, that would be near and
dear to the heart of the community that is, you know, really going to be affected by the size and
massive density and traffic of this hotel. It would be a very cool move to put those back.
And then the second thing is the affordable units. Again, you know, they did acquiesce to have these
affordable units in and that Oakwood was really, they really cared about that. And then again,
because of financial hardship of COVID those those were just made in lieu and not even in
lieu money to go to Venice housing so that's something I'd really love it if you as commissioners
would look at again now that I feel the circumstances have you know financially changed so that's all
I wanted to add and love from the mountains to the coast and thank you for protecting us.
Thank you Madam Chair. Great thank you Miss Bean I hope you go get warm.
Thank you very much.
So I will return to the commission.
Do three or more commissioners object to any item in the deputy director's report?
Okay.
Seeing no objections, the commission concurs.
And now we are on to our final item of the day, Baywatch.
Thank you.
That does bring us to Item 11A.
We do have a PowerPoint presentation for this.
If we could pull that up, please.
9-11a is a CDP application by Baywatch Inc. for construction of a temporary film set,
use of public parking lots and filming of the Baywatch television series on and around
Venice Beach. Construction of the set will take place on the Sandy Beach on the seaward
side of the LA County Lifeguard Headquarters between approximately February 9 and February
27. Intermittent filming is proposed to take place over approximately 30 days between early
March and mid-July of this year. Next slide please. The project, well filming,
would potentially occur over an approximately three quarter mile stretch
of Venice Beach which is shown here on this aerial photograph of the subject
site. During beach filming an approximately 300 square foot area within
this larger filming footprint would be cordoned off at a time. The specific 300
square foot filming location would shift throughout the footprint as needed
during filming but would remain within the broader area identified on this
slide. The project also involves use of two public parking lots including a
small portion of the Venice Beach parking lot immediately landward of the
filming set and also City lot 731 located approximately two blocks inland
which is also shown here on this aerial photograph. Next slide please. The project
includes construction of a temporary freestanding film set consisting of 1,500
square feet of interior area and 3,170 square feet of upper and lower deck area
with two new exterior stairways which are shown here on this rendering in
yellow on slide 3. The existing lifeguard station is shown in blue. The
temporary set will be constructed on the sandy beach. It will be supported by 23
removable helical piles that can be easily removed at the end of the project
and it would be relocated within an unenclosed wedge seaward wedge seaward
facing opening on the lifeguard tower as can be seen on this next slide and if we
could pull up the next slide please. Now construction will begin in mid February
and the set will be completely removed from the beach and the beach restored to
previous condition or better by the end of July. The applicant also proposes
minor improvements to the existing lifeguard headquarters including like
for life replacement of two roll-up garage doors that are not currently
operational, like for like replacement of the main exterior doors within the area
of the open wedge and patching and painting as well as fence repair and
termite repair. Next slide please. After construction and only on beach filming
days in order to support filming activities. 27 parking spaces would be used in the Venice Beach
parking lot and the entirety of City Lot 731 which is shown in white on this aerial photograph
and Lot 731 consists of 177 spaces and those would be utilized for filming activities and
support activities to support the filming between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m. In addition during consecutive
days of filming 44 parking spaces in the Inland lot, lot 731, would be used
overnight to stage film trailers and restroom facilities for the next day's
use. No parking spaces would be used on weekends and holidays so the equipment
would be moved out of those parking lots on a weekly basis. Now to minimize
impacts to public access we have several special conditions including special
condition 2 that limits use of the Venice Beach parking lot to no more than
27 of its 352 spaces on filming days, which will leave the majority of the
beach parking lot open and available to the public at old times. Starting at 8 p.m.
the 27 occupied spaces will be returned to the public, although City lot 731 will
be completely closed to the public during filming across the street from
that parking lot as shown here on this slide in white is City Lot 701 which
will provide overflow parking for the public. In addition filming is limited to
weekdays and thus occupation of these spaces by film cast crew and associates
will be limited to those weekday times only. Special condition to further
protects recreational amenities such as public parking used to access the boat
launch ramp to the Venice canals and the volleyball nets on the beach. In the same
Fashion condition also requires the applicant to maintain public access to the beach for
pedestrians at all times during filming, including at a minimum of one lateral and two vertical
public access ways.
So there must be public access both on the seaward and on the landward side and around
the film activities at all times.
It does allow for limited interruptions in access of no more than five minutes to accommodate
filming.
Next slide please. There is no sensitive habitat or dune areas within our project area and thus the
project is not expected to result in any impacts to habitat or wildlife. Now special condition 3b
requires a 500 foot buffer zone from the Venice Beach Least Turn nesting site in dunes that are
located off-site and outside of the proposed filming area and that's to ensure impacts are
avoided to those habitat areas. This special condition also requires a
lighting plan to ensure that all set and construction lighting avoids night
lighting during sensitive periods. And we also have provisions in that same
condition to ensure that vehicles remain above the mean high tide line preventing
disturbance to intertidal areas and the beach rack not be disturbed. Special
condition for includes measures protecting coastal resources and water
quality as well as removal of all trash and waste and to ensure that the use of
any single-use plastics are prohibited including for all catering and support
activities. And next slide please. This item includes two addendums that make
minor changes to certain special conditions in response both to the
applicant's requests and in regard to correspondence that has been received.
After publication of the staff report, our staff received three letters of
support from LA County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath, LA Council member Tracy
Park, and Andrew Solomian of the LA Conservancy. The commission also
received two letters from Leslie Purcell, a member of the Sierra Club and Mitch
Silverstein of the Surf Rider Foundation, both containing project
suggestions. In addition, the commission received one letter from Peggy Lee
Kennedy in opposition outlining concerns over parking and traffic and over public access for
the disabled and elderly. In response to these letters several changes to the special conditions
have been made in the two addendums including adding additional safeguards for parking spaces
designated for persons with disabilities and electric vehicle charging areas requirements
for clear street signage indicating when public parking is available and where alternative
parking can be found and the requirement for a more robust public access report documenting
interactions with the public including unhoused individuals. Now additional requirements including
documentation of the duration of filming and reporting any bird strikes or collisions
during aerial filming using drone camera equipment as well as submitting a plastics report that
identifies anticipated single-use plastic items and their alternatives. To further reduce plastic
have been required and to further reduce plastic waste signage must be posted at all sites
and cast crew and contractors must be notified of the prohibition on single-use plastics.
In response to the request from the applicant, the addendums mainly modify the parking hours for
for the project activities to last for a little longer,
to last from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.,
rather than the originally proposed 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
and that's to allow for flexibility
that they require for their filming activity.
It also allows for the limited use of 44 parking spaces
for essential equipment overnight in the inland city lot,
lot 731, when filming occurs on consecutive days.
In closing, your staff believes the project
as conditioned is consistent
with the chapter three policies of the Coastal Act,
and thus we're recommending approval of this project
with the conditions detailed in the staff report
as modified in the addendums.
The motion to accomplish this recommendation
can be found on page four of your staff reports.
That concludes my presentation.
Staff is available for questions, thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Hudson.
Any ex partes?
I have one to report.
I received a text message from Susan McCabe
on behalf of the applicant just informing me
that this was coming before us
and that they were working closely with staff
to try to align timing to allow filming to start.
With that, we will move to public comment,
or no, excuse me, to the applicant.
Hi, Ms. Blumker, how much time do you need?
We'll ask for five minutes,
I don't think we'll need all that.
11.
Perfect.
Anne Blomker, good morning, Chair Harmon and Commissioners.
Anne Blomker with McCabe and Company
on behalf of the applicant.
We wanted to express our gratitude to staff,
particularly Jennifer Doyle and Shannon Vaughn
and Steve Hudson for working with us on this
and so expeditiously, and so thank you, Jennifer.
I assume she's online.
The applicant is in agreement with the staff recommendation
and the two addendum that Steve mentioned.
We are really excited to get going quickly on this.
This is an exciting opportunity to bring back
not only a beloved show from the past,
but to highlight the beauty of the Los Angeles coastline
and all of California, actually.
And with that, I'll hand it over to Carrie Andrews
with Fremantle, and we also have Jamal Robinson
with Fremantle to answer any questions you might have.
Thank you.
Hi.
Woo.
I can project now, can't I?
I'm Carrie Andrews.
thank you for having me.
Really, just thank you.
And I just want to give a pause to that statement
because your team has been so incredible
in helping us navigate what for us
is wholly uncharted waters.
Steve Hudson, Shannon Vaughn and Jennifer Doyle,
if I'm being specific,
like they have been in the steep end with me the whole time.
They worked tirelessly to make sure
that we have this project up in front of you today.
Well, I became aware of the need for a coastal permit only early in December.
Behind the scenes, we had been working on bringing Baywatch back to Los Angeles
and specifically to Venice for over a year, and I just kind of wanted to take you through that.
We went and scouted Australia and scoured the world, really,
for beaches that could pass as our beautiful Southern California shoreline.
And while I enjoyed exploring several of them,
We looked at from Aruba Beach and Sydney,
and we went all the way up to the Gold Coast.
And we even visited one that had
wild chickens running all over it.
And while it was fun, it wasn't LA,
and specifically not Venice,
and not the historic home of Baywatch.
When we got the acceptance
into the California Film Tax Credit,
Los Angeles became a feasible option for us.
We got that letter on November 11th,
And within a few weeks, we were settled
on keeping Baywatch in Los Angeles.
At that time, our production designer came on
and that's Dave Blass.
And I think some of you have probably seen,
these are his plans and he helped us realize this.
And you know, he came on and helped us make
what was just a dream for us, a reality.
And of course, obviously with all of your support
and help as well.
And then three weeks after that,
and I have to, so many people in my head,
I've met so many people in these last few months.
It's Arnolfo and Miguel said, present in person.
And we went down to Venice Beach on December 17th,
and I think he invited pretty much everybody.
I think we had a huge amount of stakeholders there.
And literally, we're sitting on Venice Beach
with the ocean as our backdrop,
presenting the plans that you say in this.
And I've made television my entire life,
that world I know, this one I'm learning,
And I appreciate your patience and excitement and support for our project.
Thank you.
I'll turn this off.
Thank you very much.
Appreciate it.
Okay.
Any other public comments?
Yes.
We have a few, first will be councilwoman Tracy Park followed by Sean Silva and
then Rachel Fox on behalf of LA County supervisor, Lindsay Horvath, Tracy Park.
Good morning, honorable commissioners.
And thank you so much.
My name is Tracy Park and I'm the councilwoman
for the 11th district in Los Angeles.
I have the privilege of representing
some of our most iconic coastal communities,
the Pacific Palisades and Will Rogers Beach,
the world famous Venice Beach, Marina del Rey,
and Playa del Rey and Doc Weiler Beach.
I'm joining you this morning
to express my enthusiastic support for Baywatch.
I can't emphasize enough
what an incredible opportunity Baywatch will be for our state, our city, and my
home community of Venice. Baywatch is perhaps the most iconic TV show of all
time, a brand that made our coastline famous around the world, and I personally
can think of nothing more apple pie to LA than Baywatch. Aside from the hundreds
of good union jobs, aside from proving that we can still capture that Hollywood
magic that has defined our state and our region for a century, aside from
showcasing to the world all that we love about the California coast, aside from
the fact that Baywatch was created by our very own LA County lifeguards, the
men and women who protect our coastline keeping millions of people safe. Through
Baywatch, their stories have inspired curiosity about the ocean and captured
imaginations around the world. This production doesn't just respect coastal
act values, it defines coastal access in a new way.
We love the ocean, our beaches, and the marine wildlife that make it so special, were defined
by our year-round sunny days, surf and skate culture, and a Santa Monica Bay increasingly
stressed by climate change, and most recently the devastating Palisades Fire.
Life guarding culture started here, and the world is safe on our beaches because of their
work.
series about all of that. And it's equally difficult imagining this series going somewhere
else. We literally almost lost it to Australia. But with the support of Governor Newsome,
local elected representatives, the film commission and many, many, many others, we have resolved
to make this, to take this show and do what we can to bring the coast around the world.
Thank you so much for your support and I respectfully request that you approve these permits. Thank
Thank you for having me.
Thank you, Councilwoman.
Thank you.
Shawn Silva.
Good morning, honorable commissioners.
My name is Shawn Silva, and I'm with the Office of Councilman Tracy Park, whom you just heard.
I appreciate the opportunity to reiterate our support for the recommendation from coastal
staff and to reiterate our respectful request that the Commission approve a watch's application.
The project has the immense potential to serve as an economic engine, keeping hundreds of
great jobs in the film industry and its branching positive impacts here in our local communities.
The production team has absolutely distinguished itself by working with every layer of government,
every office, every department, and on every level to ensure a high quality production
environment that respects coastal access, the historic significance of the Lifeguard
Tower itself, and the unique aspects of filming in this setting.
Our office joins the chorus of other elected officials, advocacy groups like the LA Conservancy,
and community groups exhilarated by the opportunity, and we've appreciated working with the team
and your staff. Coastal Commission staff on this. She urges your support as you heard. Thank you
for your consideration. Thank you. Next will be Rachel Fox followed by Mitch Silverstein,
Robin Rudecil, and Leslie Purcell. Rachel Fox. Hi, good morning. Thank you commissioners.
I'm joining on behalf of L.A. County Third District Supervisor Lindley Horvath this morning
speaking in support of this item and Baywatch's application. The supervisor submitted this video.
can we please play that? Yes, give us a second to bring it up.
Hello, I'm Lindsey Forbath, supervisor for Los Angeles County's Third District,
home to more than two million residents. Thank you for the opportunity to express
my strong support for Baywatch's application
for the construction of a temporary freestanding film set,
along with minor repairs and painting at the Venice Beach lifeguard headquarters.
This television series plans to film at and around the Venice Beach lifeguard
Headquarters for approximately five months. I want to emphasize that the production company has been
very thoughtful and proactive in its approach to maintaining public access, respecting the
surrounding neighborhood, and ensuring minimal disruption during filming. Furthermore, from day
one, they have been very clear that their activities will not interfere with the county's
essential public safety or maintenance responsibilities. As many of you know,
Los Angeles has not been immune to productions leaving California to film elsewhere. This iconic
series is expected to employ hundreds of local cast and crew members, union jobs, generating
significant wages and local spending, and helping to revitalize an industry that has faced recent
challenges. Plus, it was born right here in Los Angeles County! Ultimately, this production will
help reaffirm Los Angeles' role as a global television and film hub, boost tourism, and
bring renewed energy to our coastal communities. I respectfully request your approval of the
Coastal Development Permit so this television series can return home to Los Angeles. Thank
you again for the opportunity to share my support. Thank you. Anything else Rachel?
Thank you so much. Thank you. Next, Mitch Silverstein.
Good morning commissioners. My name is Mitch Buchanan. I mean Silverstein,
Surfighter Foundation. I love that Baywatch is the item of the day. What a
trip. So yeah, I think Surfighter approached this similar to Commission
staff. We were not really gonna take a position on the show itself, but we do
take an interest in eliminating potential impacts to coastal resources
and public access during production. Personally, I do think it's cool being
from LA that Baywatch, you know, this story that it was gonna be in Australia,
but now it's back in LA, that's really cool.
It's gonna be very public, so, you know,
and I like the much-needed improvements
to the Lifeguard Tower, so there's a good story here.
I'd like to thank staff for the amendments they made
to minimize impacts through the various special conditions,
and I'd really like to thank them for the,
I'm sorry, the additional amendments they made
in response to letters from the public,
including surfriders' requests to strengthen
the condition to prohibit single-use plastics
across all production sites.
I wanna give major props to staff
including single-use plastics in the first place.
This is consistent with the Commission's plastic pollution
guidance that you all approved last year.
It's also consistent with Surfrider's plastic initiative
to eliminate single-use plastics in the US.
And we have a lot of work to do.
To put in perspective, our nationwide network
conducts about 1,000 beach cleanups a year.
And 83% of every item we find is single-use plastics.
Plastic is a toxic fossil fuel product.
It does not biodegrade.
The debris it creates blights our communities, harms wildlife, and poisons coastal resources.
The updated amendments require Baywatch to submit a plastics report up front
that details the measures they'll take.
It also requires prominent signage stating some of these plastics are prohibited.
I encourage Baywatch to fully embrace these efforts and furthermore to really capitalize
on an incredible PR effort to kind of model sustainable behavior and production
in a really, really public place where everyone's going to be watching.
So, it's a really huge opportunity for Baywatch and really our coast.
You know, these, let me see how much time I have here, 10 seconds, okay.
So, yeah, I'm not going to go into why it's so important.
But, I really think, single-use plastics are so pervasive and they're like in cities.
They get into every situation, so you need a plan and I'm glad they're going to have one.
They may have already had one, but I sleep better at night knowing it's required.
So, a firefighter has no objections.
Thank you.
Robin Rudicile.
Good morning again.
I want to take a moment to commend the staff
for this outstanding work.
And in particular, the staff report author,
Jennifer Doyle and Shannon Fawn as well.
This is one of the most thorough, careful
and responsive reports I've seen.
I loved reading it and what stood out to me most
is not just the depth of analysis, but the approach.
So responsive and respectful to both the applicant
and the public, rather than just rebutting
or dismissing public concerns, the report takes them all
very seriously and responds to each issue raised,
explains how those concerns were evaluated
and shows how the project or the conditions
were modified to address them.
It's very clear that staff work closely
with the applicant to resolve operational details,
condition safeguards that ensure the project
will function well and without creating negative impacts.
That level of coordination takes real expertise
and it shows throughout the report and the addenda.
I also thank the applicant
for so positively working out these details with staff.
This is Coastal Act implementation at its best,
protecting coastal resources,
truly respecting community input
and still helping an applicant arrive
at a workable, reasonable and responsible project.
The applicant is right, the South Coast staff is incredible.
Speaking as someone from Venice
and also as a neighbor of the project,
I also wanna say that we welcome the Baywatch production
conditioned and again deeply appreciate the care staff took in working with the
applicant on the conditions. Thank you. Next is Leslie Purcell. I would
also like to thank the staff for all the work they've done and addressing
different issues and I wanted to mention a couple more of the things that I
I raised, possibly engaging the local tribal people.
And it would be great if we could have some storylines
somehow that might educate the public a little bit
about the indigenous people
and that are still here actually.
I'd also like to just highlight pollution and climate issues.
I don't know if that could be incorporated.
I think that was mentioned.
So there are so many opportunities to show
both positive and negative impacts on the coast.
Pollution as mentioned, and climate change,
and sea level rise, and marine mammals
that occasionally are found on the beaches,
as well as birds sometimes that have had some kind of accident
or I don't know.
At some point there was the algae blooms that was a problem.
But hopefully that won't occur at this time.
Anyway, I appreciate everything that the staff has
done to make this project even better.
And hopefully we can highlight some
of the environmental issues that are
so important to our world these days.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
There are no more speakers, Madam Chair.
Great.
Thank you so much.
So I will return to the applicant
to see if they have any rebuttal they wish to make.
Great.
Thank you so much.
OK.
I'll close the public hearing and ask Mr. Hudson
if he has any final thoughts for us.
Thank you.
Keep it very brief.
Just like to respond to Ms. Purcell's concern
about Native American issues.
And just note that the report does
include special condition 10 which can be found on page 12 and reaches to page
14. That requires Native American monitoring for any ground disturbance
activities and coordination with the local native tribes. So that's our
standard language and so I just wanted to assure the Commission that our staff
has coordinated with our Native American partners and we do have
conditions to ensure that no resources will be impacted with that. I'll close my
comments and just note that we are available for questions. Great thank you
very much so I'll return to the Commission and begin with Commissioner
Jackson. Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you to the speaker today. Thank you for the
excellent staff report. I just you know with all due respect to our Santa Monica
neighbors I'm just want to make it a bunny to clear that I am disappointed
appointed. You're not filming in Hermosa Beach. I'm sure that was a slight. I think to make
up for that I think commission cameos should certainly happen now for accountability purposes
only of course and I think our extra beach workout regimens are going to begin today.
So I just want to make sure for the record I will be grudgingly be supporting this motion.
Amazing Commissioner not off. As someone whose kids were raised watching Baywatch
and we're always trying to rescue whatever was around at any time this is
exciting to have it come back to LA and I'm pleased to support this. It's great
to see how quickly staff was able to put this together and get things moving. I
just have to mention that I wish we had this same sense of urgency for
the 100% affordable housing project that Venice Dell that the Commission approved
unanimously over a year ago. I'd love to see that type of community support for
to help people with affordable housing as much as for these type of exciting
projects but I'm happy to move the motion if we're ready for it. There's
Another comment. I'll come back to you for the motion Commissioner commissioner Lee
Thank you, we know that our beaches in LA are iconic
But it's amazing to have a concrete anecdote about a protect a production team
Literally scouring the earth for anything that could possibly compare and so clearly we've got a unique
Backdrop where we are lucky enough to live and the most beautiful beaches in the world
I'm a former California film commissioner, and so to see additional filming happening
within the TMZ is incredibly important.
Film production is down more than 26% year over year, and that just has been declining
so much.
It has impacted every aspect of Los Angeles' economy, and we are essentially losing our
home industry to areas across the country and across the world.
And so that's very hard to see, but the state film tax credit has been critical in keeping
at home and supporting projects like this. California earns $24 of economic output
for every single dollar of the tax credit. It's just like a clear win that we need
to continue to expand this program and 4.0 will hopefully do that. But of course,
it's amazing to also be able to support production that is able to respect and
protect our coastline and to meet all of these conditions and to incorporate
everything that has been collaborated on by staff so it's really inspiring to
see this and can't wait to watch the show. I actually never watched it the
first time. Thank you, Commissioner Wilson. Thanks, I want to thank everyone for doing all the
work to get us here. Just a couple things, one is just to bring it back to the
The purpose of this process was to have this very important production comply with the
Coastal Act in its access provisions and its resource protection provisions.
It's a very dry way of saying that I think that the response, the communication back
back and forth is just going to make a better experience for everybody involved and especially
the visitors that come to the coast, the community that's directly impacted.
And I believe that when you have that positive relationship, it's going to be, it's going
to reflect in the product as well.
So I'm really thankful for everyone doing that.
And I don't think I've ever heard a comment or say that I loved reading it.
reference to one of our reports so kudos to the staff on that that's that's
pretty that's pretty high marks and with that while I'll be supporting this
going forward okay to Commissioner Kelly thank you I just want to echo the
comments of some of my fellow commissioners I'm not interested in a
cameo so I'm not echoing those comments but did want to just state that I think
you know, there is a
willingness here to comply with
our
requirements but also to advance what we think is probably going to be one of the most
impactful ways for the world to see the California coastline and
The fact that they did look worldwide to try to find something that was even remotely
You know could mimic what we have and what we work so hard to protect
I think really speaks volumes to the work of this commission and the people of California.
So I want to thank everyone involved for bringing this forward and for your willingness to work
with the commission and also that I think that there's really an opportunity to showcase
the work we do and the goal of protecting this amazing resource on a worldwide stage
And to expose the next generation of TV audiences to this incredible show that so many of us
watched in other parts of our lives.
And so I think it's great to have the opportunity to do this and also to know that, yes, there
are going to be impacts, public access is going to be one of the challenges we're trying
to balance here.
And I appreciate the thoughtful approach to ensure that we're not shutting down an entire
public beach for months on end and that they really have been thoughtful about how do we
maintain access and ensure that the residents of this community can still have access while
also trying to complete this production.
So thanks for the partnership in continuing to bring this forward and for the willingness
to take some of those steps that we would love to see other production teams do.
And also just thinking about the economic impact and those union jobs that we're going
and continue to ensure can stay in our state.
We know that there are many crews around the world
who are not getting the same types of workplace protections
that our folks do in this industry.
And this industry really put LA and California on the map.
And so to continue to be able to propel
that economic driver forward is critical, I think,
to ensuring that people in our state can stay here
and that these jobs can stay here.
So thank you.
Thank you commissioner Lee for the motion please I'd like to make the motion I
move that the Commission improve coastal development permit number five
dash two six dot zero zero one five pursuant to the staff recommendation
I'll second that's a motion by Commissioner Lee a second by
Commissioner not off there asking for a yes vote I don't think we have anyone
online at the moment so are there any objections to unanimous consent seeing
none the permit is approved congratulations all right and I think
that brings us to the end of our agenda for this month thank you so much to our
staff folks at AGP the city of Half Moon Bay for hosting us it's been a great
meeting we love being here and looking forward to seeing you all next month
in Ventura okay this meeting is adjourned