SEAL BEACH : Opposition Seen to Development Plan

The Bixby Ranch Co.’s proposed development of 223 homes, a hotel and restaurant near the Old Ranch Golf Course is expected to generate significant opposition from the city’s slow-growth advocates.

“We’ve got a strong slow-growth movement in Seal Beach--it’s almost no-growth,” Councilman William J. Doane said. “They’ll let an apartment house come in, but as far as new developments are concerned, they’re very much against them.”

The public can review a report through Dec. 27 at City Hall on the environmental impact of the project.

Seal Beach residents were sharply divided over the last major development proposed for the city. The Mola Development Corp.’s Hellman Ranch project, to be built across from the Naval Weapons Station, was the subject of angry debate for five years and was challenged in court. The developer abandoned the project after residents voted against it on an advisory ballot measure in 1991.

Councilman Frank Laszlo, who represents the College Park East neighborhood where the Bixby Ranch development is planned, said it would have a devastating effect on local traffic.

Bixby Ranch Co. officials were not available for comment Friday. But the company has offered to give the city land and tennis courts in the development area for the creation of a community recreation center.

On Nov. 29 and Dec. 13, the city’s Environmental Quality Control Review Board will accept public comments on the environmental report. The project will come before the city Planning Commission by early February.

“Whichever way it goes in the Planning Commission, it will be appealed,” Doane said. “The City Council will end up making the decision.”