Recently the Orange County Land Use Commission found an update to the Main Street Specific Plan and the update to the Housing Element was inconsistent with the JFTB airport land use plan. State law requires regular updates to the Housing Element.
At her final appearance as the city’s Community Development Department director, Alexa Smittle told the council that the city would need to adopt a formal intent to overrule the ALUC’s decision. (Smittle’s last day on the job was Aug. 20.)
A slide presented at the Aug. 11 council meeting showed that the council would consider overruling the county commission at the Monday, Sept. 8, City Council meeting.
Seal Beach last overruled the ALUC in 2022, after the county commission found an earlier draft of the Housing Element was “inconsistent” with the JFTB land use plan.
Smittle said the airport commission adopts land adopts land use plans near airports.
Smittle said the primary concerns of the ALUC are height, noise, and crash zones. Smittle said none of the sites being considered near the JFTB are within the crash zone.
“The airport land use commission has made a finding of inconsistency generally based on their feeling that there should not be as much development near the airport as we are proposing. However, we are not inconsistent with their adopted land use plan,” Smittle said.
District Four Councilwoman Patty Senecal disagreed.
“I don’t think it was a feeling. It was a staff decision and there was a lot more behind that,” Senecal said.
Senecal said she would be asking questions in terms of liability for the city and for the council.
Senecal was also concerned about building in the crash zone.
“Why are you bringing it back to override? What specifically do you want us to override?” Senecal asked.
“The finding of inconsistency with the airport land use plan,” Smittle said.
According to City Attorney Nick Ghirelli, the HCD had issued advice saying they would not certify the Housing Element until that happens. “But they have directed cities, including Los Alamitos, to override [ALUC] in order to get the certified Housing Element,” Ghirelli said.
According to Smittle, the proposed sites in Old Town include 99 Marina Drive, the Pavilions center (which is actually called the Seal Beach Center), and allow residential use on the second floor of Main Street. (The residential uses currently on Main Street predate the Main Street Specific Plan.) Smittle said a mixed use zone on PCH and Seal Beach Boulevard was a site in the previous Housing Element and remains a site in this Housing Element.
