Venice Seeks LA's Help with Marina del Rey Development

The Venice Neighborhood Council asked the Los Angeles City Council to get involved in its so far fruitless attempts to get environmental impact data from the county for a proposed 114-unit senior housing complex adjacent to Venice in county-operated Marina del Rey.

The VNC's board approved a motion Tuesday night asking City Councilman Bill Rosendahl to write to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors requesting that no development take place until the city is satisfied that negative impacts to Venice have been analyzed, reported in a public hearing and mitigated.

The Oceana Retirement Facility originally caught Venice's attention because it is proposed for an area, called Parcel OT, currently used as an 186-space public parking lot. The proposed luxury senior retirement facility would be located between Admiralty Way and Washington Boulevard and between the Marina International Hotel and the Oxford Flood Control Basin.

The issue dates back to 2008, when the VNC first became aware of the senior housing project proposal. The developer was asked to come before the VNC and present his project.

That never happened, said VNC outreach officer Marc Saltzberg.

“We asked them to come before us nicely, they didn’t do it, and now we’re asking the City Council to get involved,” Saltzberg said.

The Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors oversees development in unincorporated Marina del Rey and is seeking an amendment to the marina's Local Coastal Plan, a land-use plan that sets zoning rules for development. The amendment includes the zoning change for the Oceana Retirement Facility and three other "pipeline projects" that have been bundled together for consideration.

The county's Board of Supervisors approved the redevelopment plans in February despite protests from a busload of residents who view the county's actions as a gift to developers at the expense of residents and recreational users of the marina.

The California Coastal Commission has final authority over coastal development and likely will consider the county's Local Coastal Plan Amendment later this year. The VNC also approved sending a copy of its resolution to the California Coastal Commission.

We ARE Marina del Rey is a group created in opposition to the developments proposed by the county. At the VNC meeting, co-director Nancy Marino identified three other projects that are inconsistent with the Local Coastal Plan because they would require changing the zoning designation of parking lots.

Those parking spaces are supposed to be used solely for recreation, she said.

Marino also accused the county of discouraging public participation and lacking transparency in the decision-making process.

She was not alone.

“They don’t even want to negotiate, do they?” former VNC president Dede Audet said in the public comment period.

Members of We ARE Marina del Rey and other residents say the parking lot next to Oxford Basin is used for Venice Beach, Mother’s Beach and special event parking.

“We need that parking lot,” said Venice resident Lisa Aycock.

This is the first of multiple motions on the developments in Marina del Rey, Saltzberg said. Forthcoming motions will focus on traffic impacts and parking issues related to the proposed developments in Marina del Rey.

The items will be on the agenda of the board meeting next month, Saltzberg said.