Seal Beach : Voters to Decide Issue of Bixby Development Today

Residents today will decide on Bixby Ranch Co.’s proposed development of the triangular 18-acre site bordered by Seal Beach Boulevard, the San Diego Freeway and the Rossmoor wall.

Polls for the special election open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The election caps a year of often acrimonious debate on the proposed business park.

As of Jan. 12, Bixby and a citizens’ group favoring construction had vastly outspent opponents. Bixby reported spending $14,810.20, including $6,888 on a brochure mailed to a selected group of potential voters. During the same period, Citizens for a Better Seal Beach collected $36,600, including a $20,000 contribution from Bixby. The group had spent $19,647.94 on the election as of Jan. 12.

A group opposing the project, Concerned Citizens of Seal Beach, reported spending $625 on the election. The group reported $908 in contributions.

The development, if approved by voters, would include three four-story office buildings and two restaurants in an area usually limited to two-story construction. The plan was unanimously rejected by the Planning Commission last summer but later was approved by the City Council on a 3-2 vote.

Opponents then collected enough signatures to prompt today’s election, citing the height of the buildings and an expected increase in traffic. The project site also lies at the end of a Los Alamitos Air Station runway in what opponents contend is a potential aircraft accident zone.

Additionally, opponents say, the office buildings would overlook the residential Rossmoor neighborhood, invading residents’ privacy. If rejected by the voters, the Bixby plan could not be considered by the council again for at least a year.

City Clerk Joanne Yeo issued 1,305 absentee ballots for the election, the largest number ever issued in Seal Beach.