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Long Pt. Development Plan Outlined, In Approval Process
At the Ranchos Palos Verdes City Council meeting on Tuesday May 7, 2002, the Long Point Resort project gave a detailed power point presentation. Long Point, also known as “Old Marineland,” is a popular shore dive site on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Access to the shore is now an issue with development plans now forming. At the meeting there was a group wearing “approve this new plan now” buttons. They represented the 60 landowners just across the road from the property. They had approval signatures from 95 percent of the landowners, and addressed the minor reservations of the others. The new plan does not include city property. It has a bluff walking path/park, and a hilltop open space, which is the developer’s way of protecting the endangered butterfly. The developers see this as a “pebble beach” type development. They are joining forces with Ocean trails to provide the golf experience. They will still have a golf practice green area and did not address the chemicals to be used on the green.
The proposed resort will be quite large, bigger than anything currently in the area, including Long Beach. It will have a 400-room hotel, tennis courts, 32 3-bedroom Villas by the road, and 50 Casitas close to the bluff. It will have five swimming pools including one on the lower bluff, a restaurant, spa fitness center and a two-story parking structure. The Casitas and Villas will be owner-occupied for a portion of the year, which is part of the resort finance package. The city council voted to approve the EIR (Environmental Impact Report). The plans are now in review with the RPV planning commission, then it will go before the city council again, and then if it passes it will go to the California Coastal Commission for review. Detailed information is outlined on the city’s web site at http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv.
The plan calls for 50 parking spaces and public access for fishing and beach access, and 50 spaces for the bluff-side hiking trails. The spaces will be free and open from one hour before sunrise until one hour after sunset. The beach access is a small path with switchbacks, wheelchair accessible, so that means it’s at least four feet wide, and has a fairly shallow slope. The developer is required to provide improved access to the beach from its current form. The access will be to the south cove area currently used by divers. The switchbacks are a way to control the steepness of the grade to make it wheelchair accessible. The hours are set by the current hours for parklands along the coast.
- Submitted by Tina Brawner
Shovelnose Rays In Monterey, Red Crabs in So. California
A number of shovelnose rays have been spotted in Monterey Bay. Does that mean El Niño is back? Another possible sign of an El Niño is large numbers of pelagic red crabs, also called “tuna crabs,” washing ashore at Southern California beaches.
Oil to be Removed From Sunken Tanker
The SS Jacob Luckenbach sunk in 1953 off the Golden Gate, and has been irregularly leaking oil ever since. There remains an estimated 300,000 gallons of oil on board, and the Coast Guard awarded a $3.5 million contract to Titan Maritime, a salvage company based in Fort Lauderdale, FL. For this job, Titan will bring a 400-foot-long barge from Seattle to San Francisco Bay. They’ll bore small holes in the hull, find the oil, and pump it to two large tanks on the barge for recycling.
Shark Feeding Fanatic Bitten
Shark diving tour operator Erich Ritter is in stable condition after a shark attacked him at a Bahamas shark feeding site. According to police, Ritter, 43, went into severe shock after losing a large part of his left leg. He was rushed to the airport and medivaced to a hospital in Palm Beach, Florida where a surgical team was standing by. The shark, believed to be 350-pound bull shark, attacked Ritter while he was standing in waist-deep water, performing for a TV adventure show film crew.
Abalone Season Closes July 1
Ever wonder why abalone season is closed in July? No, it is not because the abalone are breeding. The weather in July is normally good, so regulators opted to give the abs a break by closing the season during one of the heaviest take months. The season reopens August 1.
The Monterey Clean Up Dive has been moved to August 3, 2002
The Monterey Harbor Clean Up Dive scheduled for June 8 has been changed to August 3, 2002 due to a conflict with the Monterey Beach Photo Competition. For more information log on to: http://www.jadecarver.com/cleanupdive.htm. Please preregister by contacting: Dave at drc@astound.net