Unseemly Haste on Seal Beach Proposal : Residents Were Correct in Holding Up Housing Project Until a New Council Is Seated

Seal Beach Mayor Victor S. Grgas’ 11th-hour effort to try to force approval of Mola Development Corp.’s 329-unit housing project before a new City Council takes over this week was unseemly, to say the least.

The effort--which included calling two special meetings last week--finally failed when angry residents protested at a special council meeting that lasted until nearly dawn Friday. By then, a midnight deadline had passed, so the final decision on the project was left to the new council being sworn in Tuesday--with two new members who will slice the old pro-development majority from 4-1 to 3-2.

The community has expressed many concerns over the Mola development. But the primary objection came from environmentalists worried that the project was being built on degraded wetlands. Mola had agreed to restore 41 acres of wetlands, but a wetlands preservation group said 100 acres of the 149-acre area to be developed were needed as a link to marshes that, among other things, are host to the endangered Belding’s savanna sparrow.

The group sued the city last fall to stop the development on the ground that it had been approved under a city housing plan that had not been updated, as required by state law. A Superior Court judge agreed, overturning the council’s approval of the Mola development until a revised housing plan is put in place. Subsequently, an updated plan was not approved by state housing officials, who said it did not adequately provide for future low-cost housing.

Finally, the Planning Commission told Mola to build 33 low-cost housing units someplace in the city or pay a fee to the city to be used for such housing. The city was also required by the state to devise a low-cost housing plan, but the sites proposed for future development of such housing are problematical. One is believed to be contaminated with oil wastes. Two others are not zoned for residential use. Some sites those are.

Some members of the City Council say they favor the Mola development because it will generate needed revenue for the city and provide for 41 acres of wetlands restoration and 26 acres for parks. Even if this is so, such considerations must be weighed against density, traffic congestion, housing needs and wetlands preservation. These things should not be decided by an artificial deadline set by a retiring council member.

The council should be more deliberate. Its duty is to residents, who will have to live with its decision for a long time.