Change is coming to Seal Beach Main Street. For some years now, an empty lot has occupied the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main, next door to the Bay Theatre.
But the entrance to Seal Beach’s iconic business district will no longer include an empty lot.
The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday, Sept. 11, approved the coastal development permit for PCH & Main, LLC, to build a two-story office building on that corner.
The project was moved to the commission’s Consent Calendar and approved with conditions.
“While the building tenants have not been idntified, the applicant has stated that the building will house visitor-serving commercial uses such as gift shops, art galleries and other visitor-serving commercial and office uses,” said the Coastal Commission staff report.
“The commission has typically allowed business office uses on the second floor, as long as the first floor has visitor-serving com mmercial uses, which are a priority use,” the report said.
The commission also required the property owner to impose deed restrictions on the land so the land will always be used under the terms of the coastal development permit.
The project is for a roughly 15,000-square-foot, two-story building to be built on the former site of a Chevron station.
In 2006, the state Coastal Commission approved a development permit that allowed the gas station to be demolished and two four underground storage tanks to be removed.
On April 30, 2013, the Orange County Health Care Agency issued a letter approving the PCH & Main project, provided that Chevron will have access to the site to monitor decontamination. The commission has also required the installation of a vapor barrier on the site to protect the public.
In addition to parking space, PCH & Main, LLC, will install bike racks on the site.
In January, Project Manager Ed Seleich said he expected the project to be approved in the spring.
