2ndpchabove The paralyzed Second+PCH development apparently isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Nobody can make a move until  the completion of a sweeping rewrite of the project’s draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) and the people on that assignment are going to miss their end-of-2010 deadline by about two months

This latest piece of bad news was revealed by Second+PCH in a Christmas Eve e-mail—subject line: Happy Holidays—to people it identified as “supporters and friends.” Despite the up-top reference to the most wonderful time of the year, the letter’s entire emotional range was a slight sway from just-the-facts to stiff-upper-lip. Second+PCH definitely gave it to them straight:

“We have been advised by the City Department of Planning and Building that the second re-circulated DEIR (RDEIR), originally expected to be completed by the end of the year, has been delayed approximately two months,” it read.

Of course, the new deadline—the e-mail said it’s Feb. 22, 2011—pushes back the earliest possible date of every other step in the long process. Government commissions and councils won’t even be able to schedule hearings until at least mid-April 2011.

By that time, Second+PCH will have been paralyzed for a full year—basically, beginning on the day in April 2010 when the first draft EIR was released and drew quick and widespread condemnation for a litany of inadequacies. The Second+PCH e-mail opted to look for the bright side of this … not that it looked too hard.

“Though this is unfortunate from the perspective of those of us who want this project to have a more timely hearing, we are hopeful that it will lead to a better and more thorough RDEIR,” it read.

The procession of gloomy news that has followed Second+PCH may feel like the manifestation of some ancient curse or bad karma, but it’s not. Second+PCH is a golden child, brought to life and given privilege in an inner circle formed by some of Long Beach’s most-moneyed and influential residents and businesses.

A display of Second+PCH’s strength within that realm occurred last summer, when two original members of its team—developer Cliff Ratkovich and lobbyist Carl Kemp—quietly disappeared for reasons apparently related to delays. Lead developer David Malmuth quickly replaced them with Steve Conley, the chairman of Bancap Investment Group, and Alex Cherin, an attorney who recently opened his own firm after making valuable contacts working in the city auditor’s office and at the Port of Long Beach.

Rather than being born under a bad sign, Second+PCH is simply located amid some pretty bad-ass zoning laws that have applied to construction in the Coastal Zone for decades.

Rather than being victimized by a series of unfortunate events, Second+PCH’s so-called bad luck is mostly an extension of the same basic problem it’s had from the get-go—a pretty-much-stunning disregard for those zoning laws.

This single example—one among dozens and dozens—ought to put the issue in perspective: the 12-story hotel that Second+PCH developers have on their blueprints breaks the long-established zoning law … by 10 stories.

It’s hard to imagine how tweeking the current draft Environmental Impact Report could bridge such a gap unless by “tweeking” we mean “tearing up the whole thing and starting over.”

The Second+PCH e-mail doesn’t sound as if anything like that is likely. There’s no mention of substantial changes to the project. Instead, the focus is on procedure, and it seems to imply faith that those zoning laws can be overcome—changed, ignored, whatever—if enough commissioners and council members and residents can be convinced that the project’s as-is elements are simply better.

Dates are provided so that calendars can be marked. First, the City of Long Beach will distribute the rewritten EIR on February 22, 2011, and next comes a 45-day public-comment period, which concludes on April 8, 2011. But then come reviews and votes by the Planning Commission and the City Council—nobody’s made a move to schedule those.

But Second+PCH’s e-mail doesn’t dwell on that. It scrounges around for something—anything: facts, anecdotes, good feelings, exclamation point—that can be pitched as progress.

And so it continues, first with this:

“Councilmember Gary DeLong has encouraged city staff to act as expeditiously as possible to complete the preparation of the RDEIR and we thank him for his help. The second+pch Development Team stands ready to assist in any way.”
 Then with this:

“As the project has moved through the review process over the last two years, it is clear that support has been building among local residents, businesses and community leaders. Hundreds of letters, phone calls and emails have been sent to Gary DeLong and to City staff encouraging favorable review of the project. Your voice is being heard!

And finally, with this:

“The second+pch Development Team sends warmest holiday greetings and best wishes for a joyous New Year. We look forward to keeping you updated as the project moves forward over the next few months.”