SEAL BEACH : Consultant Hired to Assess Ranch Studies

The city has hired a consultant to review 11 documents and studies on the geological conditions of the Hellman Ranch Property, where Mola Development Corp. hopes to build a 329-unit residential project.

Kandiah Arulanandan, a professor of civil engineering at the University of California in Davis, will be paid as much as $5,000 for his consulting work.

The City Council last week agreed to Councilwoman Gwen Forsythe’s request that the city hire a consultant. Mola has supervised the majority of the geotechnical studies of the Hellman property, Forsythe said, and the city should have an impartial analysis of those studies.

Under a state law that requires timely decision-making on development proposals, the council must decide by June 13 whether to approve Mola’s tentative tract map for the $200-million project. Arulanandan hopes to have completed his assessment in time for the council’s next meeting on Monday. He began his review on Thursday.

Forsythe, who is perceived as the swing vote on the Mola project, has said she will not vote for the project unless she is certain that it is safe to build on the Hellman land, which contains two fault lines and could liquefy during an earthquake.

But City Manager Robert Nelson and Arulanandan have both said that Arulanandan’s assessment will not advise the council whether or not to allow residential development on the land.

Arulanandan’s task will be to evaluate former studies and to say whether he believes Mola’s plans will reduce the risk to an acceptable level.

“You can build on any land,” Arulanandan said. “You can always mitigate. I have nothing to do with (telling the council) to build or don’t build. That is left to them.”