Coastal Commission Staff Has “No Issue” With Civic Center Way Safety Project
Written by 991KBU on June 23, 2020
Safety improvements planned for Civic Center Way have been endorsed by staff at the California Coastal Commission.
The road reconstruction project was put on hold … when one frequent city critic claimed it is too close to an environmentally sensitive wetland.
Coastal Commission staff yesterday reported that Bruce Silverstein’ complaint was without merit.
Specifically … the staff says there is no violation of local coastal plans or environmental protection rules … under the city’s plan.
The road was built in 1952 … it has an unsafe hill crest and tight curve …
The new roadway will include a sidewalk and bike lanes.
But no development will encroach any closer to the adjacent wetlands.
Silverstein complained that the city improperly failed to put the wetlands on its official map of “ESHA” … Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area.
Coastal Commission staff said in their report that doesn’t matter … because the city is not moving any part of the road into the ESHA.
Silverstein tells KBUU he will take his objections to the full Coastal Commission anyway.
Silverstein and another activist … Patt Healy … have also appealed the granting of an emergency permit to the Southern California Edison … to park trucks on a large vacant lot at the Civic Center.
The trucks are long gone … but the ugly cement that Edison left behind is illegal.
The city says the laws prohibit the city from ordering a cleanup of the cement … while there is an appeal on the land use.
Silverstein disagrees … and he says the city could order the cleanup now.
That whole mess awaits a report from the coastal commission staff … to see if there is any matter of state concern there.
