A rendering of the inside swimming area for the proposed Belmont Plaza Pool replacement facility. Photo courtesy of City of Long Beach
Tonight’s scheduled meeting of the Long Beach Planning Commission will go on as scheduled, however, the discussion that was set to determine the fate of the Belmont Plaza Pool Project’s final environmental impact report has been postponed.
News of the cancellation of the vote on the EIR was posted by Third District Councilwoman Suzie Price, who represents Belmont Shore and where the Belmont swimming complex project is being proposed, and by the city, which sent out an alert earlier today stating that the hearing had cancelled due to a “noticing oversight.” The meeting has yet to be rescheduled but the issue is expected to be taken back up sometime in October according to the statement.
The $103 million structure was set to have its final EIR approved at tonight’s meeting which would’ve moved the project onto other permitting processes with the California Coastal Commission before design development and construction begins. The earliest projected start date for the project is the Fall of 2018, however, city staff have indicated that given the recent gap in funding and the continued depression of the price of oil—the project is being paid for with Tidelands Funds, of which the capital improvement project is dependent on oil prices—that date could be pushed back if the city continues to run into funding obstacles.
How much the postponement of tonight’s hearing will affect the project’s timetable is unclear, however, the Coastal Commission permitting process was projected to run through the Spring of 2017 with the project as a whole not projected to be completed by 2020.