R.P.V. Hears Developers’ Coastal Plans : 5 Proposals Include Resorts, Luxury Homes, Golf Courses

Rancho Palos Verdes officials say the closing of Marineland in 1987 marked a watershed; it was the year developers began pressing to build numerous large-scale developments along the bluffs that overlook the ocean.

The public got a close look at those proposals Tuesday as the City Council held a community forum on coastal development attended by about 100 people at Hesse Park. The plans encompass luxury homes, resort hotels, a conference center, golf courses, spas and tennis courts.

In all, 1,520 hotel rooms, as many as 252 homes and two 18-hole golf courses are contemplated in five projects for the 598 coastal acres stretching from the city boundary with San Pedro almost to Palos Verdes Estates. The final number of hotel units and homes would vary depending upon what is ultimately approved by the city.

Comments from residents varied. Some liked what they saw, some said the city should attempt to buy and preserve open coastal land, and one woman feared that the plans would “rape the coast.” But city officials said the cost of buying the land for public use is prohibitive.

“This is sacred ground,” said Mayor Jacki Bacharach, as she and other officials outlined the lengthy and complicated process of environmental studies and public hearings that stand between the proposals by several developers and final decisions by the city.

Bacharach said later that the development would change Rancho Palos Verdes’ historic image from a bedroom city to that of a “more visitor service community.”

Two of the developers have conflicting proposals for the same 310 acres on the city’s border with San Pedro--one a resort, the other a residential development.

The five proposals for the coastline are:

*A 130-acre, 95-home development by the VMS/Anden Group. It would stretch from the Point Vicente Interpretive Center to a development called Lunada Point, where a 36-acre project is under construction. Plans are being put together by the developer and property owner, a Chicago and Los Angeles partnership.

*A 575-room hotel and 60,000-square-foot conference center, with restaurants, athletic facilities, tennis courts and public access to trails and fishing, on the 102-acre former Marineland site at Long Point. The developer, the Monaghan Co. of Arizona, also plans 184 units in smaller buildings on the property. Later phases of the project call for a second hotel building with 200 rooms, and an additional 111 units in smaller buildings. Monaghan, which owns the property has filed applications with the city for approval of the project.

*A 140-acre, 18-hole city-owned golf course on undeveloped portions of the public Point Vicente Park as well as on land within the VMS/Anden and Monaghan developments. The concept, which came from the city, is being studied by the city and the two developers, who have retained a consultant to do a design and cost analysis. If this concept is rejected, Monaghan has separate plans for a nine-hole executive golf course on its property.

*A 450-room Ritz Carlton resort hotel, 18-hole golf course open to the public and 128 homes by Orange County developer Barry G. Hon on 310 acres immediately west of the San Pedro border. Hon owns about 100 acres there, after more than a year of attempting to acquire the entire site. Nevertheless, he is preparing a development plan for the entire area.

*A 157-home development on the same 310 acres by the Zuckerman Building Co. of Los Angeles, a family owned residential construction firm that has built many Palos Verdes Peninsula homes. Zuckerman owns 140 acres within the site and the company’s plan also encompasses the entire area.

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission declared as surplus and offered for sale 53 of the acres within the 310 acres being considered by Hon and Zuckerman. It is an undeveloped coastal property, called Palos Verdes Shoreline Park, immediately west of the San Pedro line.

Robert Benard, city environmental services director, said that environmental studies for the Monaghan, Hon and Zuckerman projects should be completed by August, and the Planning Commission expects to hold public hearings in September and October.

Starting Date

He said the earliest starting date for any of the projects would be the fall or winter of 1990. Construction could take up to two years.

The Hon and Zuckerman projects are the most problematical because of varied ownership of parcels and the apparent lack of agreement between the developers on a joint project.

Hon spokesman Peter Herman said discussions are still being held with Zuckerman about purchasing the Zuckerman acreage.

But Kenneth A. Zuckerman, company secretary-treasurer, denied this. “We would feel better to develop our plan and say this is a Zuckerman development,” he said. “We never got close to a deal with Hon.”

Benard said that ultimately, the city has the power to approve one or the other of the now-contradictory plans, combine them or reject both.

“Then it’s up to the owners what to do,” he said.

Mixed Comments

On Tuesday, the planning staff’s presentations of the five proposals drew generally favorable comments from several speakers.

Wes Schultz, who lives near the Monaghan property said: “We’re looking forward to using its service.”

Some residents did call for careful studies on the impact of traffic, particularly from the hotels. While a few others lambasted the plans.

Portuguese Bend resident Kay Bara charged that the developments will “rape the coast” and change the community. “We want Rancho as it is, not Newport,” she said. A resident immediately opposite the Hon project complained of the traffic and noise it would generate.

Calls for preservation of coastal land drew applause from the audience. Resident Ruth Carter said: “We need to keep undeveloped land as wild area, not golf courses.”

City officials, however, said acquisition of the land would be too costly. City Manager Dennis McDuffie said it would cost “$17,000 per household for all the land costs.”

Said Bacharach: “We know the land will be developed. We are here to get the most for Rancho Palos Verdes.”

William Ailor, a Rolling Hills Estates planning commissioner and president of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, responded, saying: “We know we can’t acquire it all, but we can get some.”

In later interviews, Bacharach and Councilman Douglas Hinchliffe said they believe the closing of Marineland, together with rising coastal land values, have prompted the parade of development proposals, beginning with the Monaghan concept, first disclosed in July, 1987.

Sluggish Development

Bacharach said coastal development was sluggish for years because of the zoning, which required one unit to the acre, but “land value got so great they could develop it.”

Hinchliffe said the Marineland closing and subsequent luxury hotel plan “raised the visibility of the site and the coastline. . . . This is one of the last stretches of undeveloped coastline in Southern California.”

Hinchliffe said he believes that viewing all of the development proposals at once provides an opportunity to look at various concepts and capitalize on such gains as more open space, public access to the coast and trails, and revenue from the golf course and sales and bed taxes. He said that the city-owned public golf course alone could bring in $700,000 a year.

While echoing Hinchliffe that the city would benefit from open space and greater use of the coastline, Bacharach conceded that the development would change Rancho Palos Verdes’ historic image from a bedroom city to that of a “more visitor service community.”

She added: “This is an issue we should have a lot of discussion about.”