Local News in Brief : Biltmore Vote OKd Again

The Hermosa Beach City Council has again changed its mind and indicated that it will give voters three options in the November election about how to develop city-owned beachfront property.

The council will hold a special meeting at 6 tonight to complete the ballot measures for the property, commonly called the Biltmore Site, which includes 12 mostly vacant lots between 14th and 15th streets.

The council plans to sell the land to help buy the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway right of way that bisects the city.

The three ballot options regarding the Biltmore Site, which would be sold at public auction, call for:

Changing the zoning to single-family residential, which would allow eight homes to be built.

Changing the zoning to C-2, which would allow businesses, including restaurants, bars, offices, retail shops and banks.

Keeping the current land-use designation--a “specific plan area”--which allows only a hotel and related businesses on the site. This option would also include selling a nearby public parking lot on Hermosa Avenue.

The measure with the highest number of votes, as long as it is a majority, would win.

Council members have talked for months about letting voters decide the fate of the property this November, but on July 30 abruptly changed course and said the measures could not be ready in time for the next election. Friday is the deadline to have the ballot measures filed with the county registrar-recorder.