Marineland Buyer Seeks to Raze Park, Build Resort
The man who bought Marineland wants to demolish most of it to make way for his proposed $140-million resort, according to a plan presented this week to Rancho Palos Verdes officials.
Arizona developer James G. Monaghan also wants to build housing on as much as a third of the 108-acre site, despite a city policy against residential development there.
The preliminary proposal--the first detailed look at what Monaghan wants to do with the oceanfront property--promises to continue the controversy that began when former owners Harcourt Brace Jovanovich bought the park in December and shut it down in February.
“When you put the whole project together, it is a monster,” Councilman John McTaggart said at a council meeting this week, complaining that the development would be too large and would go against city land-use policies.
Tower to Be Removed
In a report to the council, Monaghan said he wants to tear down the distinctive 325-foot tower at the former theme park, dig up the “sea of asphalt” that afforded parking for 2,500 cars, demolish many of the buildings and “probably” drop the name Marineland.
Little of the theme park would survive except an amphitheater, a restored Galley West restaurant, a rebuilt pier and landing, a snorkeling course, and possibly aquariums scattered through a luxury hotel as “exceptional background features for a dining or cocktail area.” But the proposal added that the aquariums’ “cost of maintenance probably could prove to be prohibitive.”
The core of the Monaghan plan, which was developed at the site May 26 and 27 during a brainstorming session of hotel experts, is a luxury resort consisting of a conference center, a 500-room hotel and an extensive sports club with a golf course or tennis center or both and offering entertainment on the premises.
“The architectural opportunities are outstanding given . . . the enormous power and majesty of the ocean views,” the report states.
Untapped Market
Acknowledging a glut of hotel rooms in the South Bay, the Monaghan report asserted nevertheless that the resort could succeed because no hotel in the Los Angeles area now occupies the high-price pinnacle of the hotel market.
The report stated that guests would pay between $150 and $250 a night.
“Such a project, executed with style, imagination and a sense of uncompromising design quality, can quickly establish itself as a premiere facility in this field and begin to serve immediately what appears to be a totally untapped and enormous market potential in the greater Los Angeles area. No such facility is available in this giant marketplace,” the report said.
A speedy completion to the project would help the financially strapped city through taxes on hotel rooms, retail sales and real estate, city officials said. But at Tuesday’s council meeting, where discussion was under way about how to finance overdue roadwork and other capital projects, skepticism greeted the developer’s forecast.
Councilman Robert Ryan, referring to hotel overbuilding, said he believes the developer would soon have “second thoughts” about a quick timetable for construction and might be forced to delay it several years.
The most controversial aspect of the report is the recommendation to construct luxury ocean-view homes on as much as one-third of the site to provide cash during the early years of the project.
“A limited number of such low-density lots could provide useful economic relief in the short run,” the report said.
Housing goes against zoning on the site, which is for commercial and recreational uses, and it also contradicts a recently drafted city policy on the use of the site.
The report, which acknowledged that residential use “is contrary to the guidelines,” suggested that “a dialogue on this subject be opened with the City of Rancho Palos Verdes.”
‘Self-Serving’ Report
The dialogue began at the meeting, with Councilman McTaggart declaring that the report was “self-serving” and a “charade.” He said later that he was referring in part to the housing proposal.
He said he is upset that the developer had proposed residential development when city policy expressly opposes it and added that he rejected the concept of altering the policy to make the project financially feasible.
“I think the city would be crazy to do something like that. We are not in the business of providing them an income. It is up to them to pick something that is palatable to the city,” he said.
McTaggart added that the development would be too big for the site. A member of the City Council when Rancho Palos Verdes was incorporated in 1973, he noted that the city was formed after citizens banded together to limit development along the coast.
Traffic a Factor
McTaggart also said the proposed resort would produce too much traffic, although the report asserted that the resort would produce only half the traffic that the theme park did.
Councilwoman Jacki Bacharach said she was not upset that Monaghan had proposed housing, although she does not support that part of the proposal. “They should find their fast cash somewhere else. He knew the rules going in,” she said.
Councilman Douglas M. Hinchliffe said the report was a “responsible” planning document and added at the meeting that McTaggart’s criticism was not fair.
Mayor Mel Hughes said he wanted to study the document before making any statement.
The Monaghan Co. will make a formal presentation of the report on Tuesday.
Monaghan acquired the land in May from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, the company that had purchased Marineland in December and shut it down in February, provoking outrage in the community.
Monaghan hired the planning firm of Sedway Cooke Associates to produce a master plan based on the preliminary report. The Sedway Cooke firm has worked on a coastal study plan for Chula Vista, on the planning of the Spanish Bay project in Pebble Beach and a major community design plan for Monterey Park.
