Speaker 0: And so with that, let me go ahead and do the hearing, Madam Clerk. There'll be a hearing to.
Speaker 1: Report from Development Services recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the public hearing. Consider appeals from David P. Donovan, Jeremy Arnold and Daniel Wilson accept categorical exemption c18 152 and uphold the Planning Commission's decision to approve a site plan, review, conditional use permit and local coastal development permit to permit a change of use and renovation . Two of the Breakers Hotel into a 185 room hotel with food and beverage venues, banquet meeting areas and amenities in the coastal zone at 210 East Ocean Boulevard in the Downtown Shoreline Plan Development District District two.
Speaker 0: Thank you again. This is a hearing there's no oath that's required referring to.
Speaker 1: There is an oath that is required.
Speaker 0: There is it says no here. But if there is or if you're going to speak on this, please stand now. Okay. If you're hearing speaker and if you're not standing, taking the oath, you're not speaking. Okay. Please give the oath.
Speaker 1: To you and each of you solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the cause now and pending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. Everyone else. Okay, so the and so as far as speaking for that hearing is closed beyond the people that are speaking. Let me go ahead and introduce our assistant city manager, Mr. Modica.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We will have a staff report on this item given by Linda Tatum, our director of development services, and her team.
Speaker 5: I'd like to introduce Maryanne Cronin, our senior planner and team member Alejandro Placentia, who will do the staff presentation for this item.
Speaker 2: Good evening, Honorable Mayor Garcia and city council members. Before you tonight is an appeal of the Planning Commission approval of the Breakers Hotel project. As noted on this slide, this project was conditionally approved by the Cultural Heritage Commission and Planning Commission in 2018. The requested entitlements for the project include site plan, review, conditional use permit and a local coastal development permit, which were all conditionally approved by the Planning Commission on November 15th, 2018. Within the ten day Peace Planning Commission Appeal period, three applications for appeal were filed. Appeal topics include conflicts with the standards established under the Victory Park Design Guidelines, PD six Zoning and the local coastal program. And that the project introduces environmental impacts. The project is a 0.49 acre site located at 210 East Ocean Boulevard. The project site is within sub area seven of the Downtown Shoreline Plan Development District or PD six. The site is located within the general plan land use District seven, which is the mixed use district. The site is located on the south side of Ocean Boulevard, between Locust Avenue to the west and Collins way to the east. Victory Park. A public park, abuts the subject property to the north. An existing easement through the public park allows for vehicular access to the site via circular driveway. The east west ashley marine way to the rear of the project site was previously vacated. The scope of work subject to planning commission approval included the following A change of use from a 233 unit congregate care facility to a 185 room hotel. The expansion of alcohol service to new food and beverage venues. The exterior building modifications, including restoration work roof modifications. And the addition of an enclosed stairwell. The addition of an outdoor rooftop pool and deck area on the east portion of the existing third floor roof. The expansion of the 14th floor rooftop terrace and addition of a new restroom structure on the 14th floor terrace, as well as the conceptual approval of driveway modifications and re landscaping. A victory park. As shown on this slide, the site is developed with a 13 storey building with the 14th floor, cupola and rooftop area. Two additional lower levels are located below Ocean Boulevard at street level. The building is approximately 172,000 square feet in the area and is designed in a Spanish Renaissance revival style with a gable rooftop roof with towers. The building was designated as a city historic landmark in 1989. These photos are of Victory Park and the existing circular driveway configuration. The driveway currently maintains a one way drive aisle with one entry and one exit at Ocean Boulevard. Both entry and exits intersect with the sidewalk along Ocean Boulevard. Based on the previous entitlement for a 233 unit congregate care facility with banquet room and hall rentals and restaurant areas. The proposed use would fall within the non-conforming parking rights for the building as an adaptive reuse project. The new parking is new parking is not required. However, the project applicant would has agreed to provide 250 offsite parking spaces at the adjacent Long Beach Convention Center and an additional 150 overflow spaces across Ocean Boulevard. The provided valet parking is at a level similar to code requirements for new buildings. The ground floor uses would include hotel related uses such as a lobby area, retail space, dining areas, coffee shop, lounge and wine bar, a spa and fitness center. The areas in gray are historically protected and subject to all conditions included in the Certificate of Appropriateness approval granted by the Cultural Heritage Commission. The third floor would feature guest rooms and a new on the existing third floor rooftop. On the 13th floor of the existing Sky Room restaurant would be renovated as part of this approval. The existing Cielo Bar is located on the 14th floor rooftop. A new roof terrace would be added adjacent to the existing Cielo Bar restrooms, and a bar area would be located on this terrace area. These elevations of the building labeled the areas to be modified on the exterior of the building, which include the elevator edition, elevator and stairway edition, the new railing at the pool deck and the new 14 floor rooftop terrace. Rehabilitation work includes re-opening previously sealed window openings and restoration of ornamental features. New period appropriate windows would be installed on the upper floors and period. Appropriate storefronts would be installed at the ground floor. All exterior modifications were determined by the Cultural Heritage Commission to meet the required Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. This slide shows the proposed east and west elevations of the building, including a view of the code required. Stairwell. Elevator edition. This is the proposed conceptual landscape plan for Victory Park. Vehicles will continue to access the site from a widened driveway at Ocean Boulevard, but the reconfiguration would relocate the vehicle exit onto Collins Way. This driveway relocation would remove a point of pedestrian conflict at Ocean Boulevard and provide a more continuous park area along the street. Frontage. New drought tolerant landscaping, fixed seating, a drinking fountain, a dog waste post and public park signage would be added to the park area. The overall Victory Park proposal increases the hardscape in the park but improves the landscaping and provides a new passive park amenities that are not present under existing conditions. While no net loss of dedicated parkland will occur, the widened driveway would reduce the active passive park space for private access as condition. The applicant will replace the display's parkland at a 2 to 1 ratio. In response to comments raised at the public hearing and in the appeals. Additional supplemental analysis in responses to comments were prepared and included in attachment j in your packets. To further demonstrate that the project meets all the required findings and that no environmental impacts would occur as a result of the re-use of the existing building. The use of a secure, categorical exemption was determined, determined to be appropriate. The project is the re-use of an existing landmark building. The findings for the site plan review entitlement can be made in the affirmative because the project would convert the Breakers Hotel building back to its original use. The modifications to the building are consistent with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for rehabilitation and would undo inappropriate modifications that were made to the building in the past. The addition of the code required stairwell and elevator additions would not provide usable square footage that represents an expansion of the existing structure. The new rooftop patios and swimming pool areas are accessory structures to the hotel use as condition. The building modifications are consistent with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. The findings for the local coastal development permit can be made in the affirmative because private development of the Breakers Hotel would provide enhancements to the existing public park areas in order to enhance public utilization of the existing recreational resource, which is consistent with Chapter three of the Coastal Act. The park would remain a public park area and appropriate signage would be added to further designate this area as public park space. In addition, the relocation of the driveway onto Collins Way would remove an existing point of conflict between the vehicles and pedestrians traveling on Ocean Boulevard, as well as provide a more continuous park area along the Ocean Boulevard frontage. The findings for the conditional use permit can also be made in the affirmative because the sale of alcoholic beverages for on site consumption was previously covered under a valid alcohol license for the property. The previous alcohol licenses would be merely transferred to the project applicant and owner. Consulted with the Long Beach Police Department on this application. And the Long Beach Police Department expressed no opposition, provided security measures such as security cameras and adequate lighting. Which are included as conditions of approval as such are required findings for the site plan review, local coastal development permit and conditional use permit can be made in the affirmative . As previously noted, the use of a categorical exemption was determined to be appropriate. Public noticing was distributed in accordance with the Long Beach Municipal Code and mailed to property owners and occupants within 750 feet of the project site. To date, staff has received seven written comments and one phone call in response to the appeal. Noticing three letter. Three of the letters were received from one of the appellants, Mr. Donovan, regarding Victory Park. Three additional pieces of written correspondence are in support of the project. One letter was submitted by the applicant. In addition, one phone call was received from a local property owner in support of the project. All written correspondence is included in your packets in front of you. The recommendation to City Council is to deny the ACT, the Planning Commission recommendation to accept a categorical exemption c18 one five to approve the project. This concludes staff's presentation. We welcome any questions. You may as well. The appellants are present in the audience. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 6: Through our public comment on this item.
Speaker 7: Excuse me, Mr. Vice Mayor, now is the time for the appellants to make their presentation. There were three separate appellants identified. If they are here, they can queue up and make their presentation. Typically, the mayor would provide a reasonable amount of time, approximately 5 minutes for each presentation.
Speaker 6: Thank you. I mean, you start to.
Speaker 7: My dear. My name is David Patrick Donovan.
Speaker 3: My. Talks are going to take between five and 6 minutes. Thank you. I. I support the.
Speaker 7: Conversion of the breakers to a four star hotel. I support wording in the staff report that says that displaced parkland in front of the breakers be replaced. On a 2 to 1 ratio. That would be per the LCP. I am no longer insisting that the developer provide mitigations in the Long Beach coastal zone, including sections of victory in Santa Cruz parks. I believe that the Planning Commission was not acting in the public's best interests. On November 15th, 2018, when they approved the landscape plan. They seem to have ignored. The staff report statement that says proposed improvements in Victory Park are designed in a manner that a member of the public would not recognize that the area north of the Breakers is public space. This is from input from the Long Beach Cultural Heritage Commission. I urge the City Council at the very least two men with the Planning Commission recently approved for Victory Park. You could add in an amendment statement that supports the following retention of three patches of natural lawn on the lawn the installation of two wood and steel park benches facing north. NW on the east side of this section of the park installation of park signage two feet high, five feet long. That state's Victory Park established 1889. City of Long Beach. That those people passing by on Ocean Boulevard know that this is indeed a public park. The Pacific six teams new landscape plan would help accomplish this. Having said all of the above, with the exception of the trees, the access walk in my proposed park benches. I want all. Oh, the existing lawn to remain in natural turf. This would be south of the driveway and north of the Ocean Boulevard sidewalk. Following the Victory Park design guidelines. DEADLINE has been there since at least 1926. It is grandfathered in. The land used is protected by the LCP. In the Victory Park design guideline guidelines says When do we replace long established Park Lawn with ground cover? Which of our public parks is next for this conversion to ground cover? For 53 years, I run a gardening business for me. Ground cover says, don't tread on me. It is my it is my experience that ground covers are very vulnerable to foot traffic as opposed to natural lawn. Per the guidelines restrict the access walkway to eight feet wide with even not staggered edges. The Victory Park Design Guidelines support the intent of the LCP. They are not vague principles. The guidelines are highly specific in detail, meant to keep developers from further encroaching on these two parks. Examples of this are are overpaying for non park purposes. At 160 ocean gate landscaped retaining walls. BLOCK public use what was meant to be in 1898, to be used as public park for all of us to enjoy. In front of a union bank building. Precious parkland has been turned into a de facto front yard. This part lawn is historic. This simplicity really complements the breakers. It makes a lush green foreground. For The Breakers, nicely setting apart the iconic building from Ocean Boulevard. Don't clutter the lawn with blocked concrete seats, a busy looking, staggered access walk and a variety of groundcover types. Keep our park simple. Keep our park historic. Keep our park completely walkable. Two things I have I have never quite gotten over. One, the last time that Breakers was remodeled, renovated. Excuse me, the developer permanently.
Speaker 0: Sir. What we're going to do is I know that the 5 minutes is up, but we can during hearings, we can be a little flexible. And so I'll give you another minute, if you'd like, maybe 30 seconds minutes. Fine. We'll just go ahead, sir.
Speaker 7: Remove all of the parks benches. To remove the park managers from from in front of the Millennium Center. In the early 1980s, 12 civic groups successfully fought for the inclusion of those park benches in Santa Cruz Park. I want the city council to direct staff to tell the CEO of Molina health care to restore the park benches and a missing drinking fan from our Santa Cruz. From our Santa Cruz Park. This would be pursuant to the original development agreement with the city of Long Beach. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. We'll have the second. Appellant Please come forward.
Speaker 8: Good evening, honorable council members and Mr. Mayor. My name is Jordan Sisson from the law office of Gideon Krakoff, and we represent some of the appellants as Daniel Wilson and Mr. Jeremy Arnold. Staff is recommending that you approve the project and that it falls within the category of exemption. That's essentially what the 900 pages uploaded yesterday states. However, we respectfully disagree. Not only do we disagree, but experts letter submitted to the record. This for the hearing agrees with us. In short. They say that this project will cause significant environmental impacts, specifically noise and traffic. Additionally, that the adjacent nearby residents that's going to be only about 20 feet away from the proposed outdoor rooftop improvements, only 20 to 28 feet away will suffer environmental noise impacts and that a chemical exemption isn't appropriate in this instance. We apologize for the last minute submissions, but again, we only saw a staff report late last night last week, so it was difficult to provide it beforehand. Additionally, appellants have been working cooperatively with the developer to potentially resolve the environmental issues. Unfortunately, we cannot conclude those discussions before tonight, hence why we submitted the expert stuff before this hearing. In my remaining time, I want to kind of highlight some of the issues which are before you in your packets that the expert comments rose from first. The second or third floor improvements will cause noise up to 56 to 85 DBA. That's significantly higher than the city's applicable five DBA threshold on changes in ambient noise. These individuals, these apartments are going to be there at nighttime, and these hotels will have loud noises from several people speaking large crowds, potentially alcohol, alcohol, charged individuals, as well as live music. There are no conditions that require mitigation of that noise, notwithstanding condition of approval, number 29, which shows you has to comply with the city code and the city ordinance. There's no evidence in the record submitted by the applicant that shows what the ambient noise conditions are or that even compliance with the noise ordnance is even feasible. And even if it was feasible, you would still have significant impacts. This is substantial evidence, this apartment complex right next to it, as well as the city as the convention center constitutes an unusual circumstance. And as I'm sure everybody's were well aware and secure, there's an unusual circumstance and there will be significant environmental impacts . A chemical exemption is not appropriate. And my last minute and 50 seconds, I simply request you continue this hearing so staff can digest as well as counsel can digest those comments. You know, they're lengthy. They're hefty. Of course, it's going to take time to digest. So we simply request continue this item. Perhaps the Palins can resolve environmental issues with this project that must be resolved. If we're going to protect the community that surrounds this project. I thank you. I someone that.
Speaker 0: Thank you. I think we have one final appellant.
Speaker 3: Good evening. My name is Jeremy Arnold. Thank you. Mayor Garcia, Vice Mayor Andrew's esteemed council members. I'm a resident of Long Beach, and I oppose this project as it currently stands. I also encourage you to either reject the project or continue it so that satisfactory environmental mitigations can be agreed upon. Some important Seeger issues were identified in the expert comment letters submitted into the record today. Few of which I would like to name here. What particularly concerns me is the extensive noise impacts this project will bring to the area. Uh, as Mr. Sisson noted, the noise impacts from the proposed outdoor activities on the second and third floor rooftop areas will have impacts. Are people speaking. Uh. Outdoor amplified music, as he noted, from 56 to 85 DBA. And that doesn't even account for the cumulative impacts of all of those activities taking place at the same time. This is clearly a significant noise impact under secure categorical exemption is inappropriate as a result. Further, the project applicant has not submitted any noise measurements of existing ambient noise levels or evidence that compliance with the city's noise standard is even possible. Given all these factors, I strongly urge you to accept the appeal. Require an M.D. or ER before approving the project. Like I said, I am a resident of Long Beach in this neighborhood, and I'm not the only person around here who has serious concerns about this project. A lot of different folks for a lot of different reasons around this environmental issue. It sends a bad message to the to the residents. These kinds of categorical exemptions which place business interests over the public health. So again, I urge you to accept this appeal requiring mandatory I.R.. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. That concludes the appellant. We're going to now hear from the applicant. So we'll also give the applicant. 5 minutes.
Speaker 3: 8 minutes.
Speaker 0: Well, I believe, Mr. Attorney, that the applicant can request a little more time. So if you want. Well, we'll set it. We're going to do is will set the timer to six and we get the 615 more time. We'll go to eight.
Speaker 3: I will endeavor to be quick. Thank you, Dr. Mayor. City council members. I'm John Molina. I'm one of the partners of Pacific Six, the owner and developer of the Breakers Hotel. I've got a couple of PowerPoints to show you in a minute to address some of these issues. But before we get to that, I just want to say we have met with all of the appellants as late as about 4:00. I thought that we were going to be able to get something agreed to on this issue and didn't hear back. But we're more than happy to talk and and agree to certain mitigations with respect to Mr. Donovan. I will get into that in a few minutes and tell why some of the issues with him are not able to be mitigated, frankly, this project. And our goal is to thank you, sir, is to bring back an iconic building in the city. And and. Make it useful. We want to employ over 200 people in the city. We're investing over 85 million in this project. And I am thrilled that this is the first project that Pacific Six has taken on. And if you can watch the screen, I can step you through what this will look like in 2020. It was noted this is a long week. And we are applying for national recognition as a as a national landmark. So we've been very, very careful to make sure that we keep the historic look but bring it into the 21st century. This will be our new lobby. Within the lobby. We'll have a lobby bar. And then an all day dining restaurant of, I believe, 180 seats. 160 seats. We went to a little coffee shop that looks out over Ocean Boulevard. And then a spa that has ten treatment rooms. I do know that the Queen Mary has a spy. I don't know if it's a full service spa, but this will be the only hotel spa in downtown Long Beach. Welcome you all to come in and relax. This is the arcade. We're going to have about 12,000 square feet of meeting space. In this shows the hallway and believe the door at the far end. That's where folks used to come in to go to the Sky Room. This is the pool deck. This will overlook the performing arts center. And if you look at the far right, you'll see we're going to have a living wall. Our little contribution to environmental protectionism. This is a sample of our guestrooms. And then this is the this is a joke. This is the Sky Room. That a lot of people ask us if we're going to bring the Sky Room back. Yes, we are. Here are a couple of other. Views of the Sky Room. And you may be familiar with the Calabar, which was a small bar upstairs on the 14th floor, and we're going to open that up . This is the bar. And then looking out over the rooftop. We want to make sure that we're good neighbors. And so one of our partners has endeavored in visiting with neighborhood groups in the downtown area and, frankly, throughout the city, to show them what this is going to look like and get their feedback. We've got nothing but positive feedback on this project from the neighborhood groups. We've also talked to Unite here. And we're trying to work out an arrangement where a great portion of our employees can be unionized. Unfortunately, we were not able to finish those negotiations before today, but I think we're close. Down on the first floor in the far west, we're going to have a jazz club. Long Beach is home to jazz, the premiere jazz station in the country. And we want this to be a place for professional jazz musicians to come hang out and play. So please meet us at The Breakers in 2020. Now I also have one other presentation. I don't know how to get that on.
Speaker 0: Can we get the. There was an additional presentation we'll go through.
Speaker 3: So you saw the the rendition of. The Landscaping for Victory Park. Here is the challenge we had. We calculated the maximum water usage for the space out front. The maximum is 111,000 gallons per year. Under 100% turf. We would require 200,000 gallons of water. So we exceed by double the amount of water that we're allowed to have. I feel a little bit silly talking about droughts given the past few days of rain. But unlike 1926, we are in an era where. Conscious. Our plan would require only 67,000 gallons of water. So we're at 60% of what's the maximum. We feel this is not only responsible, but we feel that the design is appealing and fits very well with the park. And again, we did meet with Mr. Donovan and will continue to do so to see if we can satisfy his needs. But we just can't afford to do.
Speaker 0: ALTER Do you need another minute?
Speaker 3: Mr. Molina I think that I am. I'm done on the Sequoia issues. You have responses from our attorney who did all the research, and I think staff did a wonderful job at the at the Planning Commission meeting. Staff went through point by point by point as to why the objections wouldn't hold. So I am done. And again, I would welcome all of you to join us in 2020.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you very much. That concludes the applicant's comments. At this time, if there's any additional public comment. Remember, this is only on the hearing and this is not on anything else. Any public comment on the hearing? I only have one. I'm going to just do one. I'm going to close the speakers list. So two speakers and then the speakers list is closed. Okay. Only two. So we'll have. Our first one on our second one, 3 minutes each, then we'll close.
Speaker 9: Good evening. In control. You should not approve the site plan review conditional. Conditional use permit and local coastal development permit for the Breakers Hotel Project until. One. The Victory Park guidelines and the California Coastal Act have been followed. I've given you all a copy of the guidelines. To the amount of parkland being removed from public use has been determined. And three, the lost public parkland is replaced downtown, one for one and one for one. Elsewhere in the city, as required by the Coastal Act. You've all been given a copy of the Victory Park guidelines adopted in 1989, because these guidelines have not been followed over the years. Victory Park has become the front yard for most of the buildings on the south side of Ocean Boulevard. Tonight, you have an opportunity to return Victory Park at the Breakers to the public open space it was originally designed for. The current design concept. The victory part in the current design part. Concept for Victory Park ignores the following guidelines. All driveways in Victory Park are prohibited. Hybrid Bermuda grass, lawns, not oak, grass and succulents. Eight foot walkways not designed as an entrance to the hotel and wooden benches not uncomfortable concrete blocks. The Cultural Heritage Commission on April 2018 expressed concerns about the driveway, and staff recommended that the driveway be narrowed to match the existing conditions with an overall width between 20 and 22 feet. This recommendation was ignored and the driveway has been widened to 33 feet. I quote from the Cultural Heritage Commission minutes. The widened driveway and courtyard area would effectively remove public park space. The proposed improvements in Victory Park are designed in a manner that a member of the public would not recognize that the area north of the Breakers is public park. Staff recommends that the design of Victory Park is revised to align with the current driveway and planting areas. This is what we're asking and also that coastal law be followed and that one part one. 2 to 1 park space B.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. And I just I just want to remind the gentleman at the end. So I close the speakers list. I'm going to let you speak. But that's that's it. So there's no more speakers. I had closed it before. So for the gentleman at the end, but I'm going to let you speak, so come on down. But that's it. All right. Next speaker.
Speaker 3: Evening. Honorable mayor, vice mayor and city council. My name is Bob Stetler. I'm an attorney with Kiesel, Young.
Speaker 0: And Logan.
Speaker 3: And I represent the developer. Pacific six Enterprises.
Speaker 0: And I'm here to speak on behalf of the project. I think this is an amazing opportunity in.
Speaker 3: Front of us. The time is now to move the project forward with all developments.
Speaker 0: Time is not your friend.
Speaker 3: And so it's I think it important at this point in time that we move to move the project forward. All right.
Speaker 0: Echo the excellent presentation done by staff as well.
Speaker 3: As by the applicant. This is a very exciting project. The Breakers.
Speaker 0: Hotel, as you know, was.
Speaker 3: Designated as a historic hotel property by.
Speaker 0: The Long Beach Historical Commission in 1989.
Speaker 3: It's being brought back to that level.
Speaker 0: As Mr. Molina.
Speaker 3: Mentioned.
Speaker 0: It's going to seek to be put on the National Historic.
Speaker 3: Registry.
Speaker 0: Which again.
Speaker 3: Is part of the $85 million investment that this development.
Speaker 0: Team is making in.
Speaker 3: This property.
Speaker 0: It's an important aspect and it's going to be a great asset for our convention.
Speaker 3: And tourism business.
Speaker 0: And I know Steve Gooding.
Speaker 3: We're here right now. He would be.
Speaker 0: Jumping up and down saying, yes, we need this project and we need it now.
Speaker 3: Jobs. It's all about jobs.
Speaker 0: 500 construction jobs. 200 permanent jobs once the hotel is up and operational.
Speaker 3: We need to get that done. We need to get that done now. Victory Park will.
Speaker 0: Receive a significant improvement. It's going to improve the safety. We're now we're going to have two exits on the ocean. We're going to have one.
Speaker 3: Ingress and egress will be off ocean. So that helps with the safety.
Speaker 0: It's going to be compliant with the 2015 California model Efficient Landscape Ordinance. As Mr. Molina alluded to before, we have limitations on how much water can be used.
Speaker 3: With respect to the Sequoia and the categorical.
Speaker 0: Exemptions, the.
Speaker 3: Project is eligible for category. Categorical Exemptions under Sequoia satisfies four.
Speaker 0: Different exemptions Class one.
Speaker 3: For an existing facility.
Speaker 0: Class 32 for the infill development, class 31 for the restoration and rehabilitation.
Speaker 3: Of a historical resource in Class three with respect to small facilities exemption. What's most important in addressing the.
Speaker 0: Comment made.
Speaker 3: Earlier? There's no exception available.
Speaker 0: There's no unusual.
Speaker 3: Circumstance. This property is adjacent to the Westin, the Renaissance, the Convention Center, the Terrace Theater and the outdoor area, as well as.
Speaker 0: Not too far away from the Hyatt Regency.
Speaker 3: There's the use of this property as a hotel.
Speaker 0: Is not an unusual circumstance. If there's no unusual circumstance, you don't go to stage.
Speaker 3: Two, step two under the California Supreme Court ruling in 2015. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. And our last speaker. And we'll add time for the translation.
Speaker 9: Thank you so much.
Speaker 3: We know, but I think Cappello better be walking in Long Beach for three, five years.
Speaker 2: My name is Frederico PEREIRA. I lived in Long Beach for 35 years.
Speaker 3: That's why I keep Capello for the rest of my life. I'm into don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2: I'm here today because I'm concerned with our environment where we live and.
Speaker 3: Heading back. Look at the net and follow the one that the media.
Speaker 2: And the impact it will have on the health of my family.
Speaker 3: Through their dedication.
Speaker 2: To the construction of this project.
Speaker 3: That Peter could say, I wouldn't look at the Proyecto Tenga. Let's play what I'm being told. Correct us.
Speaker 2: I ask that you assure that this project has regulations, the environmental regulations correctly bore Albion.
Speaker 3: The familiar is a local one with that and Terra.
Speaker 2: For the benefit of our families and the entire community.
Speaker 3: Temple.
Speaker 2: Thank you for your time.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. That concludes public comment. We're going to go ahead and go back to the deliberation. So first up, we have Councilmember Pierce and there is a motion in a second.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I want to thank staff for your presentation, the appellants and the developer and their team for their hard work on this. I think, you know, when you think about Long Beach and you think about the images that we have in the city, the historic buildings on our coastline are one of the greatest things that really earmark what makes Long Beach wonderful. And when you look back and look at older photos, you can't help but notice how many beautiful buildings are gone. So I want to recognize that this is a very big project, that restoring this historic building is has to be a labor of love. Because I know that through your process, I'm sure you found some more costs and expenses through that process. So I just want to recognize that for the community members. I also want to recognize some of the concerns. I know that I've had several conversations with the developers on each of the appeal concerns, and I know that we are getting to a place where we feel like the park is going to be what we want, that we're going to have some historic nods to make sure that we are including that in the historic vision with the building, that it's accessible to residents, constituents and tourists that are going to walking by, walking down Ocean Boulevard. And I feel confident that those measures are going to be taken. I also know on the environmental concerns, it's an issue that's been extremely important to me. And my office met with the developer last week and owner, and we had conversations around the space program, making sure that we're talking about environmental integrity of the overall building specific to historic buildings and to hotels. And so I'm very thankful that that's something that you guys are going to be exploring. And what pans out? Pans out. But we know that we have the tool, we have the tools in the toolbox and that you guys are going to be using those when it comes to the noise concerns that were brought up by the appellants. I want to recognize that downtown is a unique location, that we have downtown events on Pine, on Ocean, the Grand Prix, and nobody knows the impacts of those like my residents on Ocean Boulevard. And so through my time on council, I've really tried to make sure that we hear all those concerns. I know that staff last April I agenda as an item around the impacts of noise in the downtown trying to identify what options might be. You know tools in our toolbox that we can use to mitigate some of the noise in our downtown. And so I just I know that I talked to special events recently, but if you could give me a timeline on when that's coming back, because that's not just for the buildings around the breakers, but it's for overall downtown
Speaker 4: . Yes. So that agenda item and a separate one talked a little bit about all kinds of activities that are related to noise. We're studying all those together. So we expect to come back approximately in June with the noise studies, in addition to kind of the buskers and that type of entertainment. So the noise study that was added is pretty comprehensive. So it is taking some additional time to do consultant work, but we expect around June to be back in front of the council.
Speaker 2: Great. And just I know that we hired an outside consultant, a third party that was going to come in and really measure the sound and also look at the future events that we have in downtown and really want to be mindful that we're able to have a downtown that's thriving but respects the residents that lives here as well. And so I feel really confident on that. The area that I know has been of most discussion has been around the jobs component. And nobody knows the importance of hotel jobs in a tourism industry like I do because we have so many hotels in our downtown. So it's extremely important to me not only that, we have the construction jobs that are being added to our local economy, but that we have these jobs within this hotel that are going to be not just more jobs, but good jobs. When we look at the history of Long Beach and we look at the hotels that we have here, we know we've seen a trend where our job market is really changing. And to be able to have that balance of good jobs, of good union jobs is something that's important. But this appeal is based on on SICA, and I definitely have gone through it with a fine tooth comb and worked with staff and worked with the developers. I've asked that everybody continues to to talk, to have conversations and to make sure that this project's on the right path. I know that it's far from being completely done. I know there's still a lot of work to be done, and I am thankful for everybody that's working on this project. And I want to encourage. Community members to continue to be at that table and continue to work with the developer to ensure that Long Beach is not only a leader in tourism, but that we have those good jobs that are paying good wages that allow us to change our economy for the best. So I encourage my council colleagues to vote to deny the appeal today and to know that we have a commitment that these parties are going to continue to work together. And I expect this to be a proud gem in our downtown with good union jobs and good environmental standards and a something that's accessible to all the residents in downtown. So I'm looking forward to seeing that pan out. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So this is certainly an exciting project. I've been following it for a while. And, you know, I can't say I didn't wake up as soon as, you know, wake up and pay attention to something you said. A jazz lounge, I think. Long Beach. You know, I've seen a lot of jazz lounges come and go in Long Beach. I'm hoping this is this one's a hit. But overall, it's an important project. It's a historic landmark. I think you're thinking big about doubling down on that historic nature of the site to add more value to the to the character of the neighborhood. I think the important you know, I want to give props to, you know, recognition a councilwoman Pearce for sitting down and really showing a willingness to work with the developer to meet timelines, make sure that the priorities in terms of good quality jobs on on both construction as well as the hardworking hotel workers that they are respected in this process. So I know that that's been a priority. And and I know that Mr. Molina has expressed his support for that as well. So I love I love to see when people come together and there's a partnership. I would encourage that conversation to continue, and I want to see more updates. Best of luck to the developer. Best of luck to everyone involved, I hope. I wish this is. I hope for this to become a very, very successful project. And I hope I spend a lot of time in that jazz lounge. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilwoman Pryce.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I, too, want to thank everyone for coming out and for expressing your concerns. I do. This is a project of huge magnitude, and to get to a place where everyone is completely satisfied is unreasonable and impossible, frankly. So I want to thank the developers on working so closely with city staff. And of course I want to thank city staff who first and foremost are always looking at the interests of the community and the residents and of course, our regulatory interests in trying to determine how best to frame and structure a project. So I want to thank city staff for that. For the developers, I think the commitment to restoration is huge and I want to thank you for that. I think there are very few people that would have a love for the city as this particular developer does. And the the huge investment, ongoing investment in the city is is is very much appreciated by the members of the policy board here. So I want to thank the developer for that. The facilities and the amenities look amazing. I appreciate that. Councilman Richardson was impressed by the Jazz Bar, but I do have to admit that I got the attention of my council colleague, Stacy Mango when the photos of the spa went up. So I think we have some plans in our future as well in 2020. So it's just going to be a top notch facility. And I think that it's going to make the city continue to move in a forward direction, allowing people to come and visit the area. And and, you know, every day when we talk with folks who live outside of the city, who are here for business, what we hear is I had no idea that Long Beach had all of this to offer. We had no idea what a great opportunity it is. And I see that all the time. So the diversified customer base that the hotel will have, will will only be good for our city, but also it'll be good for the business because you'll get not your traditional visitors of a high end hotel because of the nature of the events and conventions and other projects that we sponsor and support here. So thank you for the continued investment in the city and thank you to the residents who came out tonight to express your concerns. I will say you're working with a developer that's unusual than most, the more unusual than most in that there is an ear and a willingness to listen and and a willingness to try to mitigate. And sometimes a willingness to try to mitigate is better than most will offer a meaningful effort to mitigate is more than most will offer. So hopefully the continuation of the discussions does happen as promised, and there are some more opportunities to reach common ground. But with a project of this magnitude, I'm frankly surprised that there was as little issues raised as there were tonight. So thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Vice Mayor Rogers.
Speaker 6: Yes, thank you. First of all, I'd like to congratulate on the hard work that went into this project. But most of all, I just like to say the beautiful pictures that you guys showed everything. And when I heard the word Molino and Keisel, I knew then, you know, my whole life, the whole lifestyle about jobs, I knew that this was what I was looking to hear. And I know when you talk about jobs, I'm just hoping that this will be local jobs because this is the type of situation we build. My district may not be able to go down there, but I guarantee you they can work there. So that's what I'm looking for, that we will be able to hire local individuals to be able to be a part of this wonderful project. Thank you guys very much.
Speaker 0: Thank you. We have, I think, council councilwoman Lena Gonzales on the line. Is that right?
Speaker 2: Yes. I just wanted to say thank you to all parties for, you know, just being invested in the continued progress of downtown and for the community who came out and spoke today. And I know that the developer, John Molina, and his team will certainly be attuned to all those suggestions and ideas and concerns. But I just want to thank you overall for the values that, you know, certainly are.
Speaker 5: Very important for Long Beach.
Speaker 2: Restoration job opportunities and the connection to the community and continuing that connection to the community. So thank you so much for everything.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And just I'm going to conclude and I just want to just to the entire team that worked on this project, this is a fantastic restoration project and one that I completely support and have supported since it was brought forward. I want to add just a few things. One is the update. What I think is unique about this project is that a few hotels of this size, which is which would be a, you know, a boutique smaller hotel, but but certainly for Long Beach, a good sized hotel has as many public spaces and opportunities for the public to actually engage with in the building than than this property would. And if you think about all of the public amenities and public open space opportunities, whether that is the food opportunities or the bar or what caught my eye, unlike the spa and the jazz club, which was the pool room. I think those types of opportunities for the public to enjoy the building, which is a historic property that is really important to the city and its history I think is really important. I also want to say that, you know, I personally have been also in some conversations with the development team as well as with some of the appellants. And I feel those conversations are going well and I feel I feel confident that there is going to be some good resolution to some of the concerns that are on the table. And I think that the developer spoke to their interest also in in the jobs. And the jobs ensure that they are good jobs on site. And so I do appreciate that. And I know that those conversations are ongoing. And so, again, I think this is a fantastic project. I think that your timeline is it's aggressive, but it is. It's exciting. And we look forward to the additional opportunity for more hotel rooms and also the additional opportunity for the public to enjoy the building. Because right now, as we know, the building is is not operational. And certainly you are opening up more of the building to the public than before. And I think that's really great as well. So so thank you. And with that, we're going to take a vote. This is to deny the appeals as per Councilmember Pierce's motion. And we're doing a roll call vote just because of we have one member that is at a remote location. So Councilmember Gonzales and then we'll go down.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman?
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Pierce. Councilwoman Price, Councilmember Supernanny. Hi, Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 2: Hi.
Speaker 1: Vice Mayor Andrews. Councilmember Arango. Councilman Austin, Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 0: Motion carries cape motion carries on the appeals being denied. So that concludes our first hearing. So thank you very much. And we're going to move on. Let me guess. We're going to go to the the shelter issue next. But I want to do the consent calendar and get that out of the way. They can get a motion in a second on consent. Any public comment on consent saying nonetheless, please.
Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing; consider appeals from David P. Denevan, Jeremy Arnold, and Danielle Wilson; accept Categorical Exemption CE-18-152; and

Uphold the Planning Commission’s decision to approve a Site Plan Review (SPR18-033), Conditional Use Permit (CUP18-015), and Local Coastal Development Permit (LCDP18-022), to permit a change of use and renovation of The Breakers Hotel into a 185-room hotel with food and beverage venues (with onsite alcohol), banquet/meeting areas, and amenities, in the Coastal Zone at 210 East Ocean Boulevard in the Downtown Shoreline Planned Development District (PD-6) 
(Application No. 1806-19).  (District 2)