County supervisors to consider plan for hotel, shopping center in Marina del Rey

Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday will consider plans to add more shopping, hotel rooms and office space in Marina del Rey.

Those plans have been fiercely resisted by a coalition of residents, recreational boaters and environmentalists who say the county-owned marina is being overdeveloped. County officials have said the dilapidated marina is in dire need of a facelift that will attract more people to the pleasure boat harbor.

The proposal to build a hotel appears to be one of the most controversial items. The plan before the supervisors calls for a 19-story hotel and a six-level parking structure on the northeast corner of Via Marina and Tahiti Way. But earlier this month, the developer, Woodfin Suite Hotels, said it will propose a scaled-back plan, with two five-story hotel wings and a two-story parking garage.

Other proposals call for turning the last piece of undeveloped land in the marina into a 1.46-acre wetland park. A existing gym, the Marina Fitness Center, would be torn down and replaced with a large building for offices and retail, dubbed Holiday Harbor, at 14025 Panay Way. It would include a six-level parking garage, public plaza, gym, yacht club and 15,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Supervisors are also expected to consider the construction of the Neptune Marina apartment complex, which would replace an apartment complex and parking lot with 526 apartment units in four four-story buildings, and replace a parking lot with a five-story building to house seniors.

In general, the development plans have been supported by the supervisors. Supervisor Don Knabe, whose district includes Marina del Rey, has said the marina ought to be a "crown jewel" of the county, and officials have said the cracked docks and unsightly walkways are in dire need of improvement. One planning commissioner has also said the county needs to bring in more upscale shopping to boost sales tax revenue.

David Barish, who represents the group We Are Marina Del Rey, called on the supervisors to reject the plans.

"The scale and the size of the projects — the scale is too big for this residential and recreational community," Barish said. He said that some of the county's plans would involve construction over existing wetlands. The group wants the currently undeveloped land to be preserved as a public park or open space. For projects that involve tearing down existing buildings and building replacements, Barish asked that the scale of the projects be reduced.

"They're kind of overreaching on everything," Barish said. He urged the supervisors to "preserve open space, preserve recreation and when you do build, just build a little smaller."

If the supervisors approve the projects, opponents of the plan could file an appeal to the California Coastal Commission, which has broad authority over development along the coast.

ALSO:

Michael Vick: Dogfighting app for Android glorifies animal cruelty

Mexican actress gets jail time in immigration, marriage fraud case

Request for salary bonus figures for Burbank city employees called 'illogical'

-- Rong-Gong Lin II

Photo: Fisherman's Village in Marina del Rey. Credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Robert NO longer in LA]

FILL IN the harbor, pour concrete over everything, like a Chernobyl....bloody GREED of these DESPICABLE Sups....have NEVER done much right! Who re-elects Knabe decade after decade? DUMB voters....dumber non-voters!!!

[madtaxpayer]

US economy is on downhill slope, middle class is vanishing and Americans living standard is challenged in the years to come, how many boat slips are empty and how many boats are abandoned since 2008?
County sups are on drug or something else?

[Shon]

Good plan....Not. In the state of economic depression we are in these fools want to waste more tax payers money.Just do the little things for now.Fix the sidewalks and cracked docks, which will end up costing millions.How can they sit around and justify their plans. Oh, thats right its not their money.When can we get these money spending no good supervisiors out of office.

[swhitS]

Spend and spend and spend. Just more useless projects like the NFL stadium that people cannot afford.
What is this - the league of spending politicians? They all need to be fired and put on the unemployment lines to get a good taste of what life is really like.

[Dave T]

The purpose of governments should not be to maximize tax revenue. What do they mean "dilapidated marina"? This is one of the nicest neighborhoods in LA.

[Tigerloose]

"officials have said the cracked docks and unsightly walkways are in dire need of improvement"

How did they get from cracked docks and busted sidewalks to hotels and apartment buildings? Are they blind to their surroundings? The populace is holding onto what money they have left and the board wants to spend every last dime. Wake up you knuckleheads; we want you to go easy with OUR money.

[Matt]

This property tax revenue will be good for the County and everyone who lives in it, not just those who live in Marina Del Rey. Additionally, Marina Del Rey may be the only coastal area that allows density. The supply of new housing keeps prices reasonable in desireable areas like this one. That's another benefit to everybody who doesn't live in Marina Del Rey but might want to.

I'm sad to see the same old opposition to development that you see everywhere, anytime someone tries to build something other than a single family house. We Are Marina Del Rey - think about people other than yourselves.

[Deborah Alexander]

The 437 unit mega-complex, Epirit apartments, were built several years ago on public land, but is the public able to enjoy it? Studios rent for $2150 and four bedrooms for a whopping $12,500. Oh yes, I see how adding more apartments has lowered rents and made life much better in MDR for the public. Yes adding at least 437 more cars is much better for an extremely conjested Lincoln & Washington Blvds. Yes we need more polluted air. Wake up! LA Supervisors have sold out public interests to the highest bidder, and are happy bed fellows with developers. The only green in the Marina is lining the pockets of the Supervisors. If the sidewalks, streets, buildings and docks are dilapidated, it is because they are not being adequately maintained by the County. Oh yeah, Espirit apartments were sinking into the Marina in 2008. They should have let that eyesore go down. We don't need more crummy, half rate construction. Public land for public use.