10:03am | The Long Beach Planning Commission is set to meet for a study session Thursday, where they will discuss the future of development downtown.
The proposed Downtown Community Plan maps out the next 25 years of desired development for the downtown area. It aims to attract businesses with incentives that would fast-track the development process by relaxing a number of restrictions and requirements.
The overall effort is geared toward redeveloping a specific 1-square-mile area of downtown Long Beach with massive residential, office and commercial space over the next 25 years.
Critics of the plan believe its provisions would only lead to gentrification, estimating that over time the plan would cause the displacement of 24,000 current residents.
The Long Beach City Council in November received a draft environmental impact report on the plan amidst pressure to reject it from those who believe the plan would ultimately cause rents to raise, driving current downtown residents out of their homes and apartments. The officials did, however, extend the public comment period on the report, nearly doubling it from the state-mandated, 60-day minimum to 115 days.
The comment period began Dec. 10 and runs through April 4. The draft EIR can be viewed online by clicking here and scrolling down to the “Downtown Plan Draft EIR” option. Physical copies are available for public review at the Long Beach Main Library, 101 Pacific Ave., and on the fifth floor of City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.
The extension was created so that a resident advocacy group, Housing Long Beach, would have the opportunity to complete a study of its own. The group said it would focus on future employment and housing markets in the downtown area should the plan go through and its provisions be enacted.
Additional concerns about the plan include that it would sharply magnify the population density in that part of town via an influx of 9,000 additional residential units and maximized expansion of commercial property. The plan would also reduce the amount of parking currently available downtown.
Check out our past coverage on the Downtown Community Plan by clicking here and here.
The study session meeting on Thursday is open to the public and will begin at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.
Attendees will be able to learn more about the plan, ask questions and voice any concerns they might have regarding the plan and the future of downtown Long Beach.