Fox decides not to file paperwork for Mayor race after 2-hour meeting with Mayor
CONO Executive Director Robert Fox announced in a community email that he would not run for Mayor after a two-hour meeting with Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia.
Fox had pulled nominating papers for the race on Thursday, January 11th. The deadline for filing was Friday, January 12th at 5:00 pm.
In his email ( see below). Fox describes items discussed by the Mayor and himself. It is not clear from his email who called the meeting.
In the email, Fox keeps his political options open. Fox lives in the 2nd District where a Recall Petition is currently being circulated to force a recall election for 2nd District Councilwomen Jeannie Pearce.
This is the Fox email sent on Friday, January 12th at 6:31 pm:
Today with filled out paperwork in hand ready for the City Clerk I met privately with Mayor Robert Garcia for over 2 hours. Since I pulled the paperwork to run for Mayor a day ago, the landscape had changed in the City. I so appreciate your support and faith in me.
My goal has always been to represent the desires and will of you all. Our purpose in opposing the LUE galvanized this City. Our unanimous opposition to Rent Control was one of our critical issues.
In discussion with Robert today if I did not run for the Mayorship he would pull the LUE off of the February calendar. In fact, he would have a Traffic Element done on the LUE, an outside legal consultant review all aspects of the State laws from 2017 and those proposed for 2018 and how they might impact the LUE.
These are great accomplishments. However, there is more. The Mayor will announce tonight the formation of Mayoral/ CONO sponsored Roundtable meetings in each council district so that we can actually alter the maps ourselves and create a new General Plan. Staff will not be in charge but will be present to WRITE DOWN and RECORD, all recommendations for alteration.
We will have a new General Plan designed by the people.
Robert Garcia will also pronounce in his announcement tonight his opposition to Rent Control and some reasons for his position.
I took my ego out of this equation and tried to find a way to forestall the LUE from February, find inclusion in the alteration before it goes to Council and to assure that we get a review of traffic, parking, and legal consequences before finalizing this new General Plan Document.
You all will have a place at this table in your council district.
We spoke on many more issues, and have come to a meeting of minds on most all of the subjects we discussed. The Mayor promised to keep his word as he is a man of integrity. I am grateful for the sincere and forthright meeting with Robert.
These basic points of our intentions are secured now. I wish to thank all of you who supported my effort to effect these enormous agreements and positive decisions for the People of Long Beach.
Although I will not be running for Mayor right now, I have every intention of keeping my hand in the political stream. As always we must be firm, committed and keep the best interests of Long Beach in our hearts. This polite yet forthright conversation yielded great rewards for us all.
I hope you will not be too disappointed that I put our principles and purpose before my desire to run for Mayor.
New days dawn, and I will not disappear. I look forward to your continued support and your thoughts and cooperation as we move forward with this new inspiration.
Thank you so much.
Robert Fox
Remember we need 5 votes on City Council to change the City.
The man the city refused to talk to announces for Mayor
Robert Fox pulls papers for Mayor race
On Wednesday, January 10th, Robert Fox, Executive Director of the Council of Neighborhood Organizations (CONO), in a community email announced that on January 11th, the day before the filing deadline, that he was pulling papers to run for Mayor.
Fox also stated that he was stepping down from his position as Executive Director of CONO to avoid conflicts.
In his email to friends and neighbors, Fox wrote:
"After much prayer and meditation, I have come to the decision that our City desperately needs a new direction. The experience of the Land Use Element is only one issue which indicates that the voice of the citizenry is not being represented. ( heard, yes. represented, no).
This is the last thing I would curse on anyone, but the times seem to call for someone to step forward.
Therefore, I am going to run for Mayor of the City of Long Beach."
Fox who needed 30 signatures on his nominating petition asked supporters to meet at his house on Thursday to sign his petition. Within minutes of opening his door, Fox had his signatures and turned away supporters for the rest of the night what became an impromptu campaign rally.
Fox who started his career in neighborhood advocacy in the AlamitosBeach neighborhood of District 2, reemerged to reorganize CONO last year when he saw signs that the neighborhoods were again being ignored by "City Hall".
In the August of 2017, CONO splashed onto the local political scene as the organization of neighborhood leaders led the city-wide rallying call against the Land Use Element (LUE). Since August, CONO has become a city-wide political advocacy voice of the over 100 neighborhoods.
Amy Bodek, the former Director of the Department of Development Services, tried to silence Fox as the CONO leader during the popular LUE Townhall Meetings- at one point threatening to have Fox arrested for wanting to distribute CONO's information at one of the public forms.
All of Bodek's attempts backfired. When Fox spoke at all of the Townhall Meetings, he was received by the huge audiences like a rockstar.
While the Long Beach Development Services Department pushed the sky-is-falling narrative that retail was dying, in East Long Beach the reports of the death of retail and the automobile by our city planners have been greatly aggregated in their short-sighted schemes to take away retail and church properties for high-density housing.
The evidence of a booming economy in East Long Beach is everywhere. While retail (like everything in the 21st Century) is changing, East Long Beach is on the cutting edge of the metamorphosis.
Retail and Banking
Traffic Circle
A multi-million dollar private investment in the Traffic Circle retail will continue. It also appears that the private sector has not given up on the automobile. All the new buildings in the Traffic Circle-food, retail, and banking feature drive-thru service. Anyone driving by the Traffic Circle area will see lines of cars in the numerous drive-thrus.
Rite-Aid opened a huge new up-to-date store at the Traffic Circle resulting in closing both the CircleCenter and the Los Altos Center North Rite-Aid locations. The closed former locations of Rite Aid will now be available for new retail. The new Rite Aid will have a Grand Opening ribbon cutting ceremony with Fourth District Councilman Daryl Supernaw on Wednesday, January 10th at 9am. The Sunday, January 7th L.A. Times featured special sales insert for Grand Opening specials specifically for the new Traffic Circle location. Those specials run from January 7th- 13th.
A new Wells Fargo Bank is currently under construction. Plans for more new buildings in the former auto dealerships are currently in preliminary stages.
Los AltosCenter
The Los AltosCenter will continue to be a go-to banking center with the addition of a new Southland Bank at the former Citibank location.
Jose Duarte, the new branch manager at the Los Altos Center Bank of America reports that the local Bank of America will be getting a make-over in the spring to become more CSULB student friendly. The student-centered financial center will include a theme of black and gold, the colors of CSULB.
New ELB Shopping Centers
Despite the continues proclamations from the Long Beach Development Services staff of the death of retail, two- yes count them- TWO new retail shopping centers are coming to East Long Beach: The Long Beach Exchange (LBX) and Second and PCH.
Both new developments will feature Whole Foods stores.
The Long Beach Exchange at Lakewood and Carson will include three "themed" areas: McGowens Approach; The Hangar; and The Landing.
McGowen's Approach is the retail development's "main street". It will literally be a street (complete with street parking) with street facing retail.
The Hangar, like the name implies, will be a huge space. The Hangar tops 16,000 square feet that will feature a unique evolving collection of local food, art and design set.
The Landing is the central plaza area that will cover over an acre.
The stylish urban center will feature the new Whole Foods concept: Whole Foods 365, a smaller scaled concept aimed at everyday values (365 is the house brand) and convenience. Other retail already signed include: Orchard Hardware Supply; T.J. Max; Nordstrom Rack; Dunkin Donuts; In-and-Out; and the trendy Orangetheory Fitness Gym.
Adjacent to the Long Beach Airport, the newest addition to Douglas Park is just down the street from the Lakewood Mall promising a retail synergy along Lakewood Blvd.
The 3rd District's Second and PCH is not as far as LBX, with construction just beginning. Billed as "upscale" the development has one announced tenant the current regular Whole Foods store now located next to the new development.
Currently, the Second and PCH development features a small Facebook page and the linked to website is not operational.
Land Element Use (LUE) High Density
After passing the Planning Commission in December, the Land Use Element (LUE) will go to the City Council for approval apparently in the coming weeks.
At the December Planning Commission meeting, the Los Altos Gateway and the Los AltosCenter were reverted back to commercial-only removing the mixed-use high-density apartments designation at the request of Planning Commissioner Joshua La Farga.
However when La Farga also tried to include the Traffic Circle land being kept commercial, the Development Services staff at the staff tables were seen consulting with then Development Services Director Amy Bodek (who was sitting in the audience) and then the staff immediately pushed back on the Traffic Circle being removed from Bodek's East Long Beach high density scheme.
Over and over again at the numerous public hearings the Developmental Services staff connected high-density mixed-use projects with a pedestrian, bike, and mass-transit oriented lifestyles. Yet the Development Services own report clearly states that the Traffic Circle, under state control, can only hopefully be "projected" to someday have better bus routes, while nothing is projected for bike or pedestrian safety.
In a Development Services memorandum to the Long Beach Planning Commission for their LUE Study Session titled Exhibit B and dated June 15, 2017 (page 16), Bodek and her team write that "The Traffic Circle area does have access to multiple bus lines, however, their frequency is limited." The Development Services staff goes on to "project" that by 2040 there will be "bus transit improvements", the report acknowledges that Caltrans controls the Traffic Circle right-of-way and "there is currently no safe path of travel for pedestrians to traverse the Traffic Circle itself".
For more information click on EXHIBIT B(and see page 16).
Clearly changing the successful Traffic Circle commercial corridors (that are completely dependent on automobiles to navigate the area) into mixed-use for high-density housing, with the state controlling the right-of-ways, and no pedestrian access is a recipe for a traffic nightmare.
With Bodek gone from Long Beach and starting her new $250,000 planning position with the County of Los Angeles on February 1st, it now falls on the Acting Development Services Director, Assistant City Manager Tom Modica to fix the Traffic Circle LUE problem.
(For more LUE related information, see Local Elections below)
Bellflower Boulevard Bollard Bottleneck
Just in time for the local elections, Bellflower Blvd., between the Iron Triangle and the Fourth District Border at Boulton Creek flood control. Bellflower Blvd will be getting a make-over that will include: reduction of one lane; reduction of on-street parking; and a green bollad bike lane.
That reduction in lanes will only be between the 4th District border and 7th Street. So southbound traffic from the 405 and Los Altos and northbound traffic from Park Estates, CSULB's Beach Drive, the VA Hospital and the Iron Triangle will all be bottlenecked into two lanes. Neighborhood leaders expect that many drivers will start using a workaround of PCH to travel North-South. Which brings us back to the Bodek Traffic Circle Plans above.
This new Bellflower Boulevard Bollard Bottleneck comes on the heels of Councilwomen Stacy Mungo reporting that the 5th District's Studebaker Bollard Boondoggle will be reduced by 1/2- with every other bollard being removed. Whether Studebaker's slimmed down Bollard Bike Lane will then get the Orange Ave Bollard "curb" has not been disclosed. On Orange Ave., between each of the spaced-out Bollards, a four-inch-high asphalt curve was made in the street to further separate the bike lane from the street.
Has anyone in City Planning heard "If it isn't broke, don't fix it."?
JetBlue Late-night flights and LB Airport fines
At the urging of Fourth District Councilman Daryl Supernaw, a process was started last year to look at the fine structure for Late Flights at the Long BeachAirport. That plan is likely to be announced in 2018.
JetBlue racked up a historic amount of violations and resulting fines in 2017. The U.S. Transportation Department's on-time performance Data through October of last year shows that JetBlue's 70% average is the airlines worst performance since 2007. The industry average for the same period is 79%.
With 70% of its flights stopping in the Northeast, the airline has blamed airport runway repair work at Boston's Logan and New York's Kennedy airports as well as having less time padding in its flight schedules for its on-time problems. The U.S. Transportation Department reports that JetBlue is responsible for 8 percent of its delays compared to the U.S. industry average of 5.1%
New York and Boston are not the only cities JetBlue is having on-time issues. Here in Long Beach. plus in San Juan Puerto Rico and in OrlandoFlorida, JetBlue's on-time-performance has declined for the last three years.
JetBlue's five consecutive months of "chronic delays" (more than 30 minutes, 50% of the time) of JetBlue Flight 687 that flies between Orlando and San Juan has prompted a review from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Delays have cost JetBlue money other than the Long Beach fines. Delays cost airlines about $62.55 a minute according to the Airlines for America trade group.
JetBlue has faced other problems. It's pilots joined the Air Line Pilots Association in 2014. but have not yet reached their first contract. The JetBlue Pilots took out advertisements about the impasse in papers across the nation on January 1st, including the LA Times.
Later, that week after similar announcements from its competitors, JetBlue announced that it be paying its non-administrative employees a $1000 bonus from the savings the airline is expected to achieve under the new Republican Tax Cut.
2018 Local Elections
Local elections for city-wide positions and the odd-numbered council districts will take place during 2018.
High-density development has become an election issue in the East Long Beach 3rd and 5th District elections.
Neighborhood advocates in both districts have stepped up to challenge the incumbent councilwomen, 3rd District Suzie Price and 5th District Stacy Mungo.
In the 3rd District, neighborhood and environmental advocate Gordana Kajer was opposed to the approval of the high-density plans for the SEASP (also known as SEADIP) wetlands adjacent area which Councilwomen Price supported. Kajer will be having her first fundraiser on January 10th at the Belmont Heights EJ Malloy's from 6 pm to 9pm.
In the 5th District, neighborhood advocate Corlissa Lee was the co-founder of the Eastside Voice neighborhood association that was formed in response to the Land Use Element plans for high-density in East Long Beach. Shortly after announcing her run, Lee replied with her own video Councilwomen Mungo made about the LUE. Lee, who has studied the LUE extensively and the new state laws mandating more housing, was one of the first neighborhood advocates to sound the alarm bells over the LUE.
The other major candidate in the 5th District race is Richard Dines. Dines who has labeled Mungo a "flip-flopper" spoke at the LUE community meetings, but does not at posting time have a LUE position on his website: DINES for City Council
How big an election issue is high-density and its assorted problems?
In OrangeCounty, the City of Lake Forest held a special Recall Election on January 2, 2018, for Councilman Andrew Hamilton. The election was billed as a referendum on Hamilton's support of re-zoning the 4.5 acre Nakase Nursery for high-density development that recall proponents opposed as a traffic producing nightmare. Hamilton's demeanor towards residents and cozy relationship with developers along with developer campaign contributions was also an issue.
The recall effort won with resounding 72% of the vote. Hamilton will be replaced by neighborhood advocate Tom Cagley who ran on the slogan: "People not Politics".
On his website, Cagely blamed the Lake Forest Planning Commission for the growing community traffic nightmare:
"Traffic in Lake Forest is sometimes like the weather: everybody talks about it doesn't seem anything can be done about it. Of course, actions of the planning commission over the past few years has only contributed to the problem, as little forethought appears to have been invested in how to handle the increased traffic loads."
Fourth District resident Rich Gardner has become the Long Beach go-to person for rallying the community to understand Alzheimer Disease. Gardner's wife passed away from the disease at the age of 59.
Gardner has organized local support groups for those with Alzheimer and their caregivers. However, his experience with his wife led him to want to create more positive support experiences that included resources that are available for caregivers.
This Sunday, December 10th from 2- 5 pm at the Our Lady of Refuge Social Hall, in conjunction with the Purple Angels Alzheimer's awareness organization, will be the Hope and Joy event.
The holiday event will be part outreach and part support with "fun, music and entertainment". Support organizations Alzheimer's Greater Los Angeles, Home Instead, Pathways and Meals on Wheels will be at the event to answer questions about services available.
Gardner is looking for neighbors to contribute cookies for the event.
For more information about the event or contributing cookies please contact Rich at
The Los Altos Center North Rite Aid will be closing in January 2018. Employees had begun to tell long-time customers in November. This month pharmacy customers have been notified that their prescriptions will be transferred to other Rite Aids.
The Circle Center Rite Aid recently moved to a brand-new larger building with a drive-thru pharmacy lane at the corner of PCH and Ximeno. The new store is now open,
The new Traffic Circle Rite Aid comes after CVS opened a brand new store with a drive-thru at the Traffic Circle and Lakewood. Blvd. In September Walgreens reached a deal to purchase most of the Rite Aid stores (those that would not hurt competition) to better compete with CVS. Walgreens expects to close some of those Rite Aid stores.
Because the August 2017 Land Use Element (LUE) maps had the Los Altos Center North (Target/Trader Joes) new zoning "PlaceType" as 5 story multi-use with high-density apartments- rumors that the LUE was responsible for the closure have been wide-spread. However, the updated LUE maps released last month eliminated the mixed-use high density at the Target/Trader Joes Center. That portion of the Los AltosCenter will remain commercial retail.
The Sears/Lazy Acres/LA Fitness portion of the Los AltosCenter was not changed back to commercial retail on the new LUE Maps. The Los Altos Center South continues to be designated on the new LUE maps as mixed-use high-density residential. That designation to allow residential at the Los Altos Center South remains despite almost 1000 residents showing up at the Whaley Park Community Meeting demanding that the Los AltosCenter retail not be changed into high-density residential. (click on New LUE Maps)
Under new state laws, commercial property like the Los AltosCenter could qualify for even higher density than is on the current LUE Maps and not have to provide residential parking for the high-density developments. Under new state law "streamlining" process- no public hearings for qualifying projects will be needed (for more information click on League of California Cities).
The Planning Commission will be meeting on December 11 to vote on the new LUE Maps. All Los Altos residents are urged to show up to the Planning Commission Meeting and to call and email Mayor Garcia and tell him NO MIXED USE in East Long Beach retail centers: 562-570-6801 and Mayor@longbeach.gov.
The Lighting of the Letters tradition returns this year on
December 3rd to the Los Altos Village neighborhood adjacent to Whaley Park (North)
with a 3rd Annual Lighting of the Letters community kick-off event marking the return of giant letters
spelling out holiday greetings.
In the 1950's during the holidays residents living around
WhaleyPark North each displayed one giant
letter that combined spelled out around the perimeter of the park the holiday messages of Merry Christmas
and Happy New Year.
1950's vintage Whaley Park letter
Why the tradition was lost and what happened to most of the
old letters remains a mystery. As the years went by, enough people still remembered the old tradition
as the occasional random letter was found as the homes changed hands over the
years, keeping the mid-century Whaley Park Christmas Letters story alive.
Fast forward to the 21st Century. In 2015 former LB Airport
City Prosecutor Doug Haubert
Commissioner and now Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert (and long-time 4th
District resident) had an airline called Kalitta Charters consent to settle 13
LB Noise Ordinance violations for $54,000. Separate from the first Consent
Degree fines that go to the Long Beach Library Foundation, the 2015 Kalitta
agreement funds went to the Long Beach Community Foundation to establish and
administer two community funds that would directly benefit the airport impacted
neighborhoods in the 4th and 8th Council Districts.
In the 4th District, the fund created is called the Los AltosCharitable Giving Fund (LACGF). Fourth District Councilman
Daryl Supernaw was asked to recommend a committee to plan and oversee LACGF
projects. The eventual Los Altos
resident committee members, Michele "K" Kreinheder, Bill Marshall and Joe Mello met and quickly decided to bring back the Whaley
Park Christmas Letters tradition.
To contribute to the Los Altos Giving Fund click on: LOS ALTOS
In 2015, a kick-off event at WhaleyPark took
place announcing the plans to bring back the holiday letters with displays of
one of the original holiday letters and a prototype of the new letters. In
2016. the new letters were installed and neighbors from all over Los Altos
Village showed up to see the new letters, hand made by the Long Beach Area Council of Boy Scouts.
New Whaley Park Letters made by the Long Beach Area Council of Boy Scouts
The LACGF committee in cooperation with Councilman
Supernaw's office and the Los Altos Village Neighbors organize the event.
Los Altos Village's own popular Santa will return again this year as will the bounce house,
holiday music and other family fun. Neighbors are encouraged to bring cookies
and treats to share.
A box to collect unwrapped toys for the California Children's
Services Programs to distribute to needy families will also be available
at the Lighting of the Letters event.
Los ALtos Village t-shirts
Los Altos
Village neighborhood shirts and flags will also be available with proceeds going to support Los Altos Village Neighbors.
Los Altos Great Mex displays neighborhood flag
Lloyd Whaley
developed the planned community neighborhoods of East Long Beach
including Los AltosVillage and Park Estates
(originally called Los Altos Park Estates). Whaley also planned and built the Los AltosShopping Center .
Other Whaley developments include the neighborhood of
Country Club Manor in North Long Beach and the GalaxyTower on Ocean Blvd in BluffPark.
Whaley donated land for numerous public uses around Long
Beach including WhaleyPark, the Los Altos Public Library, Los AltosPark and SchererPark.
The Lighting of the Letters event will begin at
3:00 pm at WhaleyPark (North) on
Sunday December 3rd and continue until the letters light-up at dusk.
To contribute to the Los Altos Giving Fund click on:LOS ALTOS
Kumon Math & Reading Center opens in
Los Altos Center North
A KumonMath & ReadingCenter has opened up at
the Los Altos Center North in the upstairs
of the Trader Joes/Amazing Comics section building in Suite 208.
Los Altos Center Kumon Center Grand Opening ribbon cutting from Councilman Supernaw's weekly newsletter
Kumon's is an after-school academic enrichment
program. The Kumon program to motivate
students and instill a love of learning.
The advance at your own pace program is individualized for students who
either in need of catching up or enrichment.
Starting Monday November 27th, construction on the Bellflower Blvd's
$2.1 million mile is set to begin. The
City of Long Beach in conjunction with 3rd District
Councilwomen Suzie Prices' office will be repaving and reconfiguring Bellflower from PCH to Atherton Street including the area known
as the Iron Triangle- the PCH/7th
Street/Bellflower Blvd. intersection. The 3rd District project will stop at the 4th
District line which is the Boulton Creek flood channel right before the YMCA.
3rd District Councilwomen Price
Prices' office announced the project in Spring of this
year. The project had been delayed because of street construction inside of
CSULB that caused CSULB students to enter the campus by way of Atherton Street. The delayed construction will now impact
Third District residents traveling to the Los AltosVillage
shopping centers and restaurants for the holidays and 4th District residents traveling
south to the Marina Pacifica Shopping areas during the shopping season.
The bulk of the $2.1 million funding for the 1.1 mile stretch
is being paid for by federal and state monies with Long Beach funding $211,000 of the project.
At least one lane of Bellflower Blvd. and reportedly 25
parking spaces on Bellflower
will be eliminated as bike lanes protected by "bike bollards" will be
added to the street. Those green bollards have been controversial not only in Long Beach but in Los
Angeles.
The Nightmare Before Christmas from Long Beach city management..
City Management's holiday message to LB neighborhoods
City management
eblasts a misleading Holiday Summary of new Land Use Element changes
On Monday November 20, during the traditional kick-off to the holidays, the City of Long Beach management started a series of misleading Holiday Summary email blasts about the controversial Land Use Element (LUE) Placetype maps that spreads downtown density across Long Beach.
The email blasts come after the near universal outcry over the "new" LUE maps that were released this month. LB Development Services Director Amy Bodek's department and City Manager Pat West had touted for weeks that the city "heard" the overwhelming response from the residents that attended the four recent Community meetings.
While the city-wide misrepresentations are too numerous to address from across the city during the holidays, here are just a few examples from the city's Holiday Summary about the Fourth District areas on the new LUE maps sent out today and the Real Facts.
Traffic Circle
Here is the part of the city management's Holiday Summary that deals with the Traffic Circle:
"Reduced height around the eastern portion of the traffic circle from 6 stories to 4 stories"
The Real Facts
The Traffic Circle is the most traffic accident prone area of the city. Here is what that ONE line from the Holiday Summary DOES NOT report about the "new maps":
·What the "Reduced Height" means is now instead of tripling the height density of the areas East of Clark and North of PCH the new maps are just DOUBLING the height density.
·The Von's property portion of the CircleCenterstill will allow mixed-use high density apartments. Since it is currently zoned commercial- the land qualifies under the new state law SB 35 for Super Sizing Density . That state law includes: ADDED height and density beyond what the city zoning allows; NO PARKING requirements; and other added high density big developer perks when defined affordable housing is included in the high density development
·The new maps include DOUBLINGthe current heights and density of the apartments East of the VonsCenter and Northeast of the center along Los Coyotes Diagonal.
·The new maps do not change the Western Part of the Traffic Circle. That area remains six stories mixed-use high density apartments. PLUS, all of the land in these commercial areas qualify for Super Sizing Density under the new state law SB 35: ADDED height and density beyond what the city zoning allows; NO PARKING requirements; and other added high density big developer perks when defined affordable housing is included in the high density development:
1.the Circle Center Ralphs property
2.the Staples/Big Five/Circle Wash property
3.the Free Conference Call, UFC Gym property
4.the Circle Porsche property
5.the Circle Audi property
6.the CommunityHospital property
7.the oil tank property
·The new maps include high density housing for the business properties currently at the second worst intersection in the 4th District- the Lakewood Blvd/Stearns/Clark intersection. These commercial areas qualify for Super Sizing Density under the new state law SB 35: ADDED height and density beyond what the city zoning allows; NO PARKING requirements; and other added high density big developer perks when defined affordable housing is included in the high density development:
1.El Pollo Loco/Medical Building property
2.Hertzog Eye Doctor property
The Traffic Circle and PCH are under the control of the State of California. The city cannot make any changes to improve traffic flow due to adjacent high density residential development.
The Los AltosSearsCenter
Here is the part of the city management's Holiday Summary that deals with the Los AltosSearsCenter:
"Reduced height and intensity at Bellflower/Stearns from 5 stories to 3 stories (Sears site)"
The Real Facts
The Los Altos Center is part of the original plans of the Los Altos Village planned community- one of the nation's first post World War II planned single family neighborhoods. Here is what that ONE line from the Holiday Summary DOES NOT report about the "new maps":
·The Holiday Summary does not state that the Sears property is being changed from Commercial Development to Mixed-Use Development (all purple and light purple areas) a change that allows high density apartments right in the middle of the Los Altos single family neighborhood zones
·As a currently Commercial Zone the Sears Center property qualifies for Super Sizing Density under the new state law SB 35: ADDED height and density beyond what the city zoning allows; NO PARKING requirements; and other added high density big developer perks when defined affordable housing is included in the high density development making the 3 story Placetype limit moot.
·Multi-use development has the potential of adding hundreds of residents in high density apartments directly under the flight path of landing jets
The Anaheim, Redondo, Ximeno, 10th Street Corridors
Here are parts of the city manager's Holiday Summary that deals with the Anaheim Corridor:
"Reduced height along Anaheim - from 5 stories to 4 stories"
"Reduced height along Redondo south of Anaheim; from 5 stories to 4 stories"
"Reduced height along Anaheim - from 5 stories to 4 stories from Redondo to Ximeno; and to 3 stories from Ximeno to Clark"
The Real Facts
Much of these transit corridors are made up of commercial properties that literally surround neighborhoods that were forever changed by the Crackerbox Planning that allowed low-parking-requirement dense apartment complexes the last time the City of Long Beach looked at spreading density in the 1980's. Here is what the Holiday Summary DOES NOT report about the "new maps":
·The "new maps" change the current residential and commercial zoning along those major corridors to mixed use high density- allowing high density apartments ( all purple and light purple areas)
·All the currently zoned commercial areas along the corridors (ie LB Playhouse property, nursing homes, car facilities) would qualify for Super Sizing Density under the new state law SB 35: ADDED height and density beyond what the city zoning allows; NO PARKING requirements; and other added high density big developer perks when defined affordable housing is included in the high density development SEND YOUR OWN HOLIDAY MESSAGE TO THE CITY
Please go here to sign the petition currently circulating:
CONO Executive Director Robert Fox announced in a community email that he would not run for Mayor after a two-hour meeting with Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia. 
