Local News in Brief : Hearing on Beach Property

The Hermosa Beach City Council will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. today to discuss proposed ballot measures dealing with the city’s only vacant beachfront property, the subject of controversy for two decades.

The property, known as the Biltmore Site, includes seven lots of beachfront land between 14th and 15th streets, as well as the five lots to the east, some of which are developed.

The site was included in two hotel development proposals that were defeated by the voters in 1984 and 1985. One of the measures the City Council will consider placing on the November ballot would direct the city to sell the land to a hotel developer.

City Council members also are considering putting two other measures on the ballot. One would direct the city to zone the land as single-family residential and sell it. The other would direct the city to zone the land C-2, which allows restricted commercial businesses, including restaurants, bars, offices, retail shops and banks, and sell it.

The council was expected to discuss the matter at Tuesday’s meeting, and a number of people showed up to comment. One resident asked the council to discuss the issue at the beginning of the meeting instead of at the end as scheduled, but council members refused. About 11:15 p.m., they voted to postpone the discussion until this evening.