County Exploring Options : Plan for Marina Road Draws Fire

County planners developing a land-use plan for Marina del Rey are hoping to get around a controversial requirement for a new road intended to siphon off some of the traffic in a heavily congested area.

The road proposed by the county would be in the Oxford Triangle, just outside the county border in Los Angeles. But Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who represents that area, opposes the plan.

And Marina del Rey developers do not want future development tied to such a road, since Galanter’s opposition prompts them to think it will never be built.

Dennis Slavin, a planner with the county Regional Planning Department, said the concept of having alternative routes to the proposed road is being considered.

He said including language to that effect in the plan would allow county officials to discuss alternatives later with state Coastal Commission officials. Slavin added that specific alternatives to the road are now being proposed.

Meeting Today

The County Regional Planning Commission today is considering including such language in the plan, called the Local Implementation Program, at 9 a.m. in the Hall of Records, 320 W. Temple St.

If approved by the commission, the plan will go to the Board of Supervisors for its approval. The Coastal Commission, which must also approve the plan, is expected to review the recommendations late this year, Slavin said.

The Local Implementation Program is one of two parts of a coastal plan required by state law.

The other part, called a Land-Use Plan, outlines general development concepts. The Local Implementation Program sets development standards to achieve these concepts.

Motorists using Admiralty Way to avoid heavy congestion at the intersection of Washington Street and Lincoln Boulevard have created their own traffic problems on Admiralty. And it is this traffic that the road proposed by the county would relieve.

As county officials try to move traffic from the Lincoln Boulevard terminus of the Marina Freeway to Washington Street, each end of that route requires coordination with Los Angeles city officials.

Galanter, who represents the area, opposes the proposed bypass because it would pour additional traffic into residential Oxford Triangle. Residents there oppose such a road through their neighborhood.

Robert Leslie, executive director of the Marina del Rey Lessees Assn., said the additional language proposed for the Local Implementation Program does little for developers because all possible alternatives have been explored in the past without success.

Leslie said he hopes the concept of tying development in Marina del Rey to a new bypass is dropped.

“We don’t like being held up because of this requirement,” he said. “There will have to be some kind of amendment.”