Bixby Ranch Co

Following years of wrangling and despite a crush of opposition, the Seal Beach City Council early Wednesday approved the Bixby Ranch Co.'s plan to build homes and a retail center on one of the city's largest remaining parcels of open space. The 4-1 vote came after two marathon council sessions lasting a total of 10 hours, and after more than 3,000 residents signed petitions against the north Seal Beach project, which they said would bring unwanted traffic and noise.

The California Coastal Commission's executive director has ordered Bixby Ranch Co. to halt a construction project that altered and filled a piece of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in Long Beach, calling the work a violation of the state Coastal Act. The commission staff is also investigating two other alleged violations in the sprawling salt marshes on the border between Los Angeles and Orange counties.

After years of wrangling and despite a crush of opposition, the City Council early Wednesday approved the Bixby Ranch Co.'s plan to build homes and a busy retail center in northern Seal Beach. The 4-1 vote came after two marathon council sessions lasting a total of 10 hours and criticism from more than 3,000 residents who signed petitions against the project that they said would pave over much of the largest plots of land that remain undeveloped in Seal Beach.

The Planning Commission voted to recommend denying the Bixby Ranch Co.'s plan to develop its 218-acre property in north Seal Beach, agreeing with dozens of residents who spoke against the project Wednesday because of the additional traffic it would create. The plan now faces an uphill battle as it goes before the City Council on Monday, with residents of Rossmoor, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach's College Park East neighborhood united in opposition.

An environmental impact report for the controversial Bixby Ranch development proposal won conditional approval from a city panel and will move to the Seal Beach Planning Commission. The Environmental Quality Control Board's approval of the report does not mean it endorses the project, only that the document meets legal standards and will provide enough information for city officials to make a decision about the development proposal.

Hoping to answer residents' questions about the development proposed for some of Bixby Ranch Co.'s property in north Seal Beach, the City Council has scheduled a public forum Monday at City Hall. Residents from College Park East--a neighborhood north of the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station and east of the Bixby property--have been wary that any development would change the character of their community. Bixby Ranch has put about 23 acres of commercially zoned property on the market.

Bixby Ranch Co. development plans are fulfilling expectations that they would become a key issue in the March 26 City Council election. Council candidate Patty Campbell said a community meeting Tuesday to review two development plans was timed to influence the election. Bixby Co. representatives were invited to a community meeting organized by the College Park East Neighborhood Assn.

One of two City Council candidates locked in battle over the merits of a proposed Bixby Ranch Co. development has complained about the location of a polling place for the March 26 election: It's at a tennis club owned by the company.

City and community leaders are meeting today in hopes of reaching an agreement over future development of Bixby Ranch Co. land near College Park East. They are are trying to hammer out a compromise allowing for future development of the land but avoiding the piecemeal sale of Bixby holdings--especially the Old Ranch Tennis Club. Marriott International Inc. hopes to purchase more than four acres from Bixby Ranch Co.