Group Gets Grant to Restore Ballona Lagoon

A group opposed to a proposal for a 450-boat private marina in Ballona Lagoon has received a grant to design an alternative plan that would preserve and restore the narrow body of water as a wildlife habitat.

The California Coastal Conservancy last week gave $50,000 to the Ballona Lagoon Marine Preserve Inc., a group of residents fighting plans to widen the lagoon and line its banks with concrete so it can be used by boaters.

The lagoon runs for about a mile parallel to Via Marina west of Marina del Rey.

The conservancy also said it decided Friday to seek control of public access areas ranging from 24 to 40 feet wide along the eastern bank of the lagoon. The state agency said it would turn the land over to a nonprofit group or the city of Los Angeles once the area has been restored for wildlife use.

Numerous Approvals

The marina and preservationist plans must receive numerous governmental approvals before either can go into effect.

“We are very pleased and are going to prepare our plan,” said Iylene Weiss, president of the preservationist group. “This will kill the marina plan.”

Biologists for the state conservancy said the lagoon is an important feeding area for wildlife, including the least tern, a bird that is on the federal list of endangered species.

The marina proposal calls for deepening the lagoon by 11 feet and digging four finger basins to provide water access for 84 luxury homes to be built east of the lagoon. Developers would also more than double the width of the 50-foot-wide lagoon and line its banks with concrete walls.

The development proposal was put forward by the Silver Strand Marina Assn., a group of property owners along the lagoon shore.

A consultant for the Silver Strand group said he had not seen anything detailing the coastal conservancy’s action and could not comment on how it might affect the marina plan.

Silver Strand Marina’s “major goal is to clean up a lagoon which is in great need of a cleanup,” said consultant Jeff Seymour. “Building additional slips is secondary.”

Members of the Silver Strand group in the past have said that the lagoon is dirty and sometimes gives off a foul odor at low tide.

Any plan to restore the lagoon must be approved by the city and the Army Corps of Engineers. The plan to develop the lagoon as a marina needs approval by the Corps of Engineers, the city, county and state Coastal Commission.

Galanter Opposed

“We certainly support the restoration effort,” said Rick Ruiz, press deputy for City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter. He said it would be impossible to preserve the lagoon if plans for a marina were approved. “So we certainly oppose the marina plan.”

Plans to build a marina have also been opposed by the County Board of Supervisors and the National Audubon Society.

“I suspect that whatever remaining habitat there is for birds would be eliminated with a marina,” said Michael Josselyn, a professor of biology at San Francisco State who studied the area for the conservancy.

Josselyn has recommended that preservationists improve the lagoon’s water quality by diverting dirty rain water runoff from nearby streets away from the lagoon. Preservationists should also remove old pilings and concrete rubble from the lagoon and plant native vegetation along the shore.