9:30am | For all those mapmakers out there worried about job security, here is some good news: Long Beach just got a little smaller–7.63 acres to be exact.
  
The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved more than half a dozen boundary changes along the eastern edge of the city that will impact nearly 78 acres of property in Long Beach, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach and unincorporated Orange County.
  
While most of the affected property is uninhabited, vacant or covered with water, the changes to city limits will see just over 35 acres of property moved into Long Beach borders and about 43 acres being moved out.
  
In 2008, the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, or OC LAFCO, produced a study that identified several illogical and misaligned boundaries along the eastern edge of Long Beach where Los Angeles and Orange counties meet.
 
The study found that “in some cases the boundaries actually cut across some of the residential properties and in other cases it made for very confusing service deliveries, especially for residents that might be new to the area,” Deputy City Manager Reggie Harrison told the Council. 
 
In concluding the study, OC LAFCO asked that Long Beach, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach consider annexation and detachments to “reduce confusion in the delivery of municipal services and increase clarity regarding the governance of these areas.”
 
The illogical boundaries identified by OC LAFCO are located on the eastern edge of Long Beach along the Los Coyotes Creek and San Gabriel River. Harrison pointed out that while the creek and river offer a natural border between the three cities and the two counties, the current borders zig-zag back and forth along the shores of two bodies of water.
 
Based on directions given by the Long Beach City Council in November 2009, Long Beach city staff has since worked with Los Alamitos, Seal Beach and Orange County officials to determine new city boundaries for seven areas where Long Beach meets the various other entities.
  
While initial considerations would have impacted residential properties in the Island Village and Imperial Estates neighborhoods, this idea was dropped and the border adjustments approved by the Council on Tuesday will not impact any Long Beach residential properties.
  
The boundary changes must now be approved by the Los Angeles County and Orange County Board of Supervisors. If the two boards approve the changes the new borders would be sent to both the Los Angeles and Orange County LAFCOs for a final approval.
  
Under the approved boundary changes approved by the Council:

  • Long Beach will turn over 1.3 of property where Wardlow Road and Los Coyotes Creek cross to the city of Los Alamitos. This triangle-shaped parcel includes the backyards of seven Los Alamitos residences and the 0.75 acre Stansbury Park which is currently owned and maintained by the city of Los Alamitos.  
  • Just over 19.6 acres of mostly San Gabriel River will be moved into Long Beach borders from Orange County. Included in this parcel is the 2.3 acre College Estates Park, which while owned and maintained by the City of Long Beach, now sits within the borders of unincorporated Orange County.   
  • Long Beach will also lose an empty (save for power transmission towers) 36.5 acre right-of-way parcel owned by Southern California Edison and the Orange County Flood Control District that is sandwiched between the 605 freeway and Los Coyotes Creek/San Gabriel River and bounded roughly on the north and south by the 605 Freeway’s southbound Willow St. offramp and the 7th st. offramp, respectively.
  • Just over 4.9 acres of mostly water-covered property in the Haynes Steam Plant water channel that runs parallel to the San Gabriel River between Pacific Coast Highway and 2nd Street will be moved within Long Beach borders. This would put all of the plant, which is operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, within Los Angeles County.
  • Long Beach will lose just over 3.8 acres–consisting mainly of retail parking lot on the east shore of the San Gabriel River roughly between PCH and Marina Drive–to Seal Beach. This would also include some of the parking lot for the Oakwood Apartments and portions of the Seal Beach Mobile Home Park. Both areas are located in Seal Beach and the city of Seal Beach already provides these areas with municipal services. The new border will align with the access road along the eastern shore of the San Gabriel River bank.
  • A triangle-shaped single acre-parcel covering mainly the San Gabriel River where it is crossed by the Marina Drive street bridge will be moved into Long Beach borders and the Long Beach city limits extended to the eastern shoreline access road along the river.
  • Just over 10.5 acres of Seal Beach property near the entrance to Los Alamitos Bay will be moved within Long Beach city limits. The Long Beach boundaries will be realigned with the eastern edge of the jetty that separates the Los Alamitos Bay entrance and the San Gabriel River. It also includes a small portion of land that consits mainly of the parking lot for Khoury’s Restaurant and portions of a marina wharf on the bay side of the restaurant.

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