Project Delay Not Signal Hill’s Doing

* “Well Hasn’t Run Dry” [Sept. 28], on a local developer’s search for home sites leading them to consider building on active oil fields, quotes developer Geoffrey Le Plastrier indicating that his approval process took six years--”about twice as long as the typical residential project.” He then goes on to cite the “time-consuming process of obtaining permits from the city of Signal Hill . . . “

I take strong exception to Mr. Le Plastrier’s characterization of the city’s development process as time-consuming. After working on development projects for the last 20 years, this project fits the category of “hurry up and stop.” It was plagued by false starts and stops initiated by the developer from the beginning.

This is primarily due to litigation between the property’s owner, Alamitos Land, and the oil field operator, Barto-Signal Hill Petroleum. The time delay, which was a direct result of litigation, was conveniently not mentioned in the article.

One of my first meetings as the new city manager was with Mr. Le Plastrier in January of 1997. He described his 188-unit residential project. We were supportive and gave the project a top priority. The specific plan, tentative tract map, environmental impact report and development review had been filed in April of 1996. The City Council approved the project in October of 1997.

Litigation between Alamitos and Barto-Signal Hill Petroleum was filed. We understand that they were fighting over the oil issues related to one well.

Mr. Le Plastrier then revised his plans to build 61 units on land that had been released for development prior to Barto-Signal Hill Petroleum’s purchase of the oil rights. The revised development applications were filed in November of 1998 and approved by the City Council in February of 1999.

I confess that I am a product of “new math,” but somehow this does not add up to six years of delays created by the city. We actually processed both the original and revised applications in less than two years, with all the oil field complications. This is actually one year less than Mr. Le Plastrier’s three-year average processing time for the typical residential development.

KENNETH C. FARFSING

City Manager

Signal Hill