Can you see the beach from Pacific Coast Highway, and can you easily walk in front of it beachside? The answer was yes, which satisfied the Coastal Commission last Thursday in San Pedro as it proceeded to approve the Bel-Air Bay Club’s plans to renovate its beach facility, bringing an end to the five-year effort to secure necessary government approvals. In a unanimous decision, the commissioners’including the three recent appointees by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’accepted the club’s amended coastal permit application, which addressed scenic views, public access and height issues brought by appellants Martin Murphy, Harold Tuchyner and the Pacific Palisades Residents Association. The historic club, located on PCH between Potrero Canyon and Sunset, proposes to demolish approximately 30,700 sq.ft. of the existing 51,120-sq.-ft. lower club to be replaced by 40,700 sq. ft. of new facilities and enclosed walkways. The estimated cost was $8 million in 2002, but a new budget is now being drawn up. In addition, the club will reconfigure and relocate the entrance and exit driveway, add 1,000 feet on the PCH shoulder to improve bicycle and pedestrian access, enhance scenic views of the ocean along PCH and improve public access along the beach in front of the seawall. The final approval was conditioned to reflect the Coastal Commission staff’s recommendation to contain all the new development behind the existing seawall. ‘We acknowledge that we had to do a certain amount of redesign,’ said project manager Bill McGregor of The McGregor Company, who guided the commissioners and audience attendees (including over 50 club supporters) through a slide presentation illustrating the changes and additions to the original plans. Highlights include reducing the height of the hedges that shield the club on the highway side down to 3 feet from their current 15- to 20-foot height, providing the permanent fencing be made of translucent material to allow view corridors on both sides of PCH; realigning the parking lot entrance to align with the upper club’s entrance across the highway, and raising the beach parking lot to improve the visibility for exiting drivers to see oncoming traffic. Additionally, the groin on the western (Malibu side) tip of the property will be redesigned to improve lateral beach access. The overall height of the new structures, which consist of beach caba’as on the west and eating facilities and common areas in the central part of the building, will range from 14 feet to 28 feet, exclusive of the tower. The tower, which sits above the restaurant and was described as a purely visual element that breaks up the linear nature of the Mediterranean architectural style, rises to 37 feet. The tower’s height remained a sticking point for opponents, who insisted on limiting any new development to existing heights. Harold Tuchyner, who lives on Aderno Way overlooking the club, supported a number of the club’s proposed improvements while rejecting a second-story approach. ‘We support safety at the PCH interface, and improving the seawall, renovating the facilities and the bike path easement,’ Tuchyner said. ‘But a multi-story phase is not necessary to achieve all of the above. New development overshadowiing the beach would reduce the public’s enjoyment of the beach.’ He also complained that the new facilities would ‘draw more people to use the facility and aggravate an existing problem.’ Appellant Michael Murphy, who also lives on Aderno Way, questioned the legality of the plan. ‘Why confer this benefit to the club, which does extreme harm to the public interest? It is against state law to obscure scenic views.’ Marcia Hanscum of the Sierra Club urged the commission to deny the club or ask the applicant to withdraw it, arguing that the club was guilty of ‘a massive number of coastal violations.’ The alleged actions included illegal shade structures, volleyball courts and boat storage areas. In responding to the alleged violations, Deborah Lee, California Coastal Commission South Coast Deputy Director, said ‘these outstanding violations are not integral to the request today and we’re deferring them.’ At the conclusion of the two-hour hearing, Maida Hastings, president of the Bel-Air Bay Club board of directors, was exuberant. ‘It’s unbelievable. It was a better result and a unanimous roll call. We’ve worked very hard and covered people’s areas of concern and are glad to move forward.’ The Club will seek the approval of its 750 members at the end of June and must break ground by April of next year, when the existing city permit expires.
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