Streamlined Procedures Sought for Marina Plans

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday asked a bevy of county departments to come up with a way to streamline the process for approving new development in county-owned Marina del Rey.

The action on Supervisor Don Knabe’s motion came as the board also approved hiring two consulting firms to evaluate proposals for redevelopment and developers’ requests to extend their current leases into the second half of the next century.

Knabe had delayed approval of the consultants for the past month because, he said, he wanted to be sure there was an efficient process in place to approve future development. Knabe’s district includes the marina.

The county seeks to transform the marina into a business/residential center in coming years, and current and prospective leaseholders are pushing redevelopment proposals. Critics have complained that the county is not getting sufficient returns from its leases with developers, many of whom have given generously to supervisors’ campaigns.