CC SR 20180220 G - Palos Verdes Reef Restoration ProjectRANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA REPORT
AGENDA DESCRIPTION:
MEETING DATE: 02/20/2018
AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
Consideration and possible action regarding the proposed Palos Verdes Reef
Restoration Project
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Authorize the Mayor to sign a letter to the State Lands Commission expressing
the City Council's continued opposition to the granting of an off -shore lease for
the proposed Palos Verdes Reef Restoration Project.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Kit Fox, AICP, Senior Administrative Analyst,;;;
REVIEWED BY: Gabriella Yap, Deputy City Manager -:� f.
APPROVED BY: Doug Willmore, City Manager+{"�,.i
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Draft letter to the State Lands Commission (page A-1)
B. April 4, 2017, letter to SLC (page B-1)
C. October 9, 2017 letter to SLC (page C-1)
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
On February 21, 2017, Staff was notified that the Montrose Settlements Restoration
Program (MSRP) Trustees would be holding a public meeting at the Point Vicente
Interpretive Center (PVIC) on March 2, 2017, to present the Palos Verdes Reef
Restoration Project for public review and comment. A large number of residents
attended the public meeting at PVIC, and many subsequently expressed
disappointment and frustration that the format of the meeting did not provide them the
information that they needed to understand the proposed project.
As currently envisioned, the project would involve the placement of 70,300 tons of
quarry rock from Santa Catalina Island on 40 acres of sandy ocean bottom within a 69 -
acre site located 0.3 miles offshore of Trump National Golf Course. Construction of the
underwater reef would be accomplished using equipment and materials brought to the
site on barges. The project is expected to take 40-60 working days to complete. The
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Environmental Assessment (EA) may be reviewed on the State Lands Commission
(SLC) website at http://slc.ca.gov/Info/Reports/PalosVerdes/Enviro Assess.pdf. Public
comments on the EA were due by March 22, 2017, and the SLC was initially scheduled
to consider the EA and related lease for this project at its meeting on April 20, 2017, in
Berkeley. The City Council had intended to submit timely comments on the EA, but was
unable to do so due to the unexpected cancellation of its March 21, 2017, meeting.
On April 4, 2017, the City Council considered and approved a letter expressing
opposition to the project (Attachment B).1 Ultimately, the matter was not agendized for
the SLC's review at its April 2017 meeting, at least in part because of the level of
concern and controversy raised by the project among City residents and other
interested parties.
On September 27, 2017, the City was notified of a public meeting to receive an update
on and review responses to previous public comments regarding the Palos Verdes Reef
Restoration Project. The meeting was scheduled for October 11, 2017, at the Malaga
Cove Library in Palos Verdes Estates. Shortly after learning of this meeting, Staff
learned that the SLC was expected to review this matter at a meeting scheduled for
November 29, 2017, in Fresno. In response, on October 9, 2017, Staff sent a letter to
the SLC (Attachment C), asking the Commission to consider either changing the venue
for this meeting to a location closer to the City, or providing a satellite location in or near
the City at which residents might testify and observe the proceedings.
On October 11, 2017, Staff from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) gave a detailed presentation of the proposed project, something
that was notably lacking from the meeting held at PVIC in March 2017. The
presentation provided the background and rationale for the proposed project, and also
attempted to address the issues of concern that had been raised by the community.
Although some attendees appeared to remain skeptical about the suitability and
purported benefits of the proposed project, others seemed to appreciate receiving
answers to the basic questions that they had about the proposal. At the conclusion of
the meeting, Staff was assured that, in all likelihood, this matter would not appear on the
Commission's November 2017 agenda, and would probably not be heard by the
Commission until February 2018. Ultimately, the matter was not agendized for the
SLC's review at its November 2017 meeting.
On December 8, 2017, SLC Staff contacted the City to inquire about the availability of a
local satellite location for the Commission's meeting on February 27, 2018. Staff
explored the availability of various City facilities on that date, and tentatively reserved
the Sunset Room at PVIC. The booking of the Sunset Room was finalized in January
2018. The meeting will start at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, February 27, 2018, and the SLC
agenda and additional materials will be posted on the SLC website at
http://www.slc.ca.gov.
The April 4, 2017, City Council agenda report may be viewed on the City's website at
http://rpv.qranicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view id=5&clip id=2756&meta id=38409.
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Staff does not expect the SLC agenda and additional materials be available for public
review and comment until ten (10) calendar days before the February 27, 2018,
meeting. As such, as of the date that this report was completed, Staff does not know
what the recommended action on this project will be, nor do we know what NOAA's
responses to comments on the EA will be. Therefore, Staff has prepared a draft letter
that re -states the City's opposition to the project (Attachment A), which is substantially
the same as the letter sent to the Commission in April 2017. Once Staff has had a
chance to review the SLC agenda report and recommendation, we may be in a position
to provide revised and/or additional comments for the City Council's consideration as
"Late Correspondence" on the night of the meeting.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative actions are available
for the City Council's consideration:
Direct Staff to revise the draft letter to SLC.
2. Do not take any action in this matter.
3
February 20, 2018
Gavin Newsom, Chair
California State Lands Commission
100 Howe Ave., Ste. 100 South
Sacramento, CA 95825
SUBJECT: Objection to Granting Lease for Palos Verdes Reef Restoration Project
Dear Chair Newsom and Members of the State Lands Commission:
On behalf of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council and our residents, I wish to respectfully
express our continued opposition to the granting of a lease for the Palos Verdes Reef Restoration
Project, which we understand will be appearing on the Commission's agenda on February 27,
2018. We greatly appreciate that the Commission is providing a satellite location for this meeting
in Rancho Palos Verdes so that our residents and other interested parties may participate in this
public process.
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is supportive of the goal of the project to restore recreational
and commercial fishing resources that were destroyed by the dumping of DDTs and PCBs in the
waters off the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the 1940s through 1970s. In 2011, our City Council
expressed conceptual support for such a project. However, we do not support the project at its
proposed location just over a quarter -mile offshore from the City's Founders Park and Rancho
Palos Verdes Beach.
The location of the proposed reef is only a short distance downcoast from the toe of the active
Portuguese Bend Landslide. It is primarily the silt and sediment from this landslide that has
covered the reef that this project seeks to restore. However, the proposed project will do nothing
to stop or redirect this downcoast flow of silt and sediment, which will likely result in any restored
reef being quickly covered before any self-sustaining fishing habitat can be re-established.
Furthermore, we question the wisdom of re-establishing fishing habitat in such close proximity to
the DDT- and PCB -laden sediments that lie not much further off our City's coastline.
We urge the Commission to reject the proposed
work with environmental advocacy groups and
effective and acceptable project.
Sincerely yours,
Susan M. Brooks
Mayor
cc: Rancho Palos Verdes City Council
Doug Willmore, City Manager
Gabriella Yap, Deputy City Manger
Kit Fox, Senior Administrative Analyst
MSRP Trustees
lease agreement, and to direct the applicant to
affected local communities to develop a more
A-1
CITYOF lLiRANCHOPALOSVERDES
April 4, 2017
Betty T. Yee, Chair
California State Lands Commission
100 Howe Ave., Ste. 100 South
Sacramento, CA 95825
SUBJECT: Objection to Granting Lease for Palos Verdes Reef Restoration Project
Dear Chair Yee and Members of the State Lands Commission:
On behalf of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council and our residents, I wish to respectfully
express our opposition to the granting of a lease for the Palos Verdes Reef Restoration Project,
which we understand will be appearing on the Commission's agenda on April 20, 2017. Our City
Council had expected to express our objections in comments on the related Negative Declaration
for the project, but were unable to do so timely due to the unexpected cancelation of our March
21, 2017, meeting.
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is supportive of the goal of the project to restore recreational
and commercial fishing resources that were destroyed by the dumping of DDTs and PCBs in the
waters off the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the 1940s through 1970s. In 2011, our City Council
expressed conceptual support for such a project. However, we do not support the project at its
proposed location just over a quarter -mile offshore from the City's Founders Park and Rancho
Palos Verdes Beach.
The location of the proposed reef is only a short distance downcoast from the toe of the active
Portuguese Bend Landslide. It is primarily the silt and sediment from this landslide that has
covered the reef that this project seeks to restore. However, the proposed project will do nothing
to stop or redirect this downcoast flow of silt and sediment, which will likely result in any restored
reef being quickly covered before any self-sustaining fishing habitat can be re-established.
Furthermore, we question the wisdom of re-establishing fishing habitat in such close proximity to
the DDT- and PCB -laden sediments that lie not much further off our City's coastline.
We urge the Commission to reject the proposed lease agreement, and to direct the applicant to
work with environmental advocacy groups and affected local communities to develop a more
effective and acceptable project.
Sincerely yours,
May
cc: Rancho Palos Verdes City Council
Doug Willmore, City Manager
Gabriella Yap, Deputy City Manger
Kit Fox, Senior Administrative Analyst
MSRP Trustees
30940 HAWTHORNE BLVD. / RANCHO PAEOS VERDES, CA 90275-5391 B-1
CITYOF ibbkh RANCHO PALOSVERDES
October 9, 2017 CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
ADMINISTRATION
Gavin Newsom, Chair
California State Lands Commission
100 Howe Ave., Ste. 100 South
Sacramento, CA 95825
SUBJECT: Request for Alternate or Remote Location for the Upcoming Meeting
regarding the Palos Verdes Reef Restoration Project
Dear Chair Newsom and Members of the State Lands Commission:
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is supportive of the goal of the abovementioned project to
restore recreational and commercial fishing resources that were destroyed by the dumping of
DDTs and PCBs in the waters off the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the 1940s through 1970s.
However, we do not support the project at its proposed location just over a quarter -mile offshore
from the City's Founders Park and Rancho Palos Verdes Beach. Our concerns about this
proposal were previously expressed to the Commission in a letter from Mayor Brian Campbell
dated April 4, 2017. Many Rancho Palos Verdes residents and property owners share the
concerns expressed in the Mayor's letter.
It is the City's understanding that the Commission's review of this project is tentatively agendized
for consideration at its meeting in Fresno on Wednesday, November 29, 2017. Given the high
degree of public interest in this project among our citizens, I wish to respectfully request that the
Commission either:
1. Change the location of the November 29, 2017, Commission meeting to a venue closer to
Rancho Palos Verdes; or,
2. Provide a remote location in or closer to Rancho Palos Verdes at which residents may
view and participate in the meeting (as was recently done with the Commission meeting
at which the Rancho LPG rail spur issue in San Pedro was discussed).
Our Staff will be happy to work with the Commission to identify suitable alternate or remote
locations for this meeting. Please contact Senior Administrative Analyst Kit Fox at (310) 544-
5226 or kitf@rpvca.gov.
Sincerely yours,
Doug Willmore
City Manager
cc: Rancho Palos Verdes City Council
Gabriella Yap, Deputy City Manger
Kit Fox, Senior Administrative Analyst
MSRP Trustees
30940 -IAWTI IORNE BLVD. / RANCHO PALOs VERDES, CA 90275-5391 / (310) 544-5207 / FAX (310) 544-5291 / www.RPVCA.GOV
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