TITLE
Recommendation to adopt resolution to authorize City Manager to participate in a Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) with the United States Department of the Navy, and provide up to $16,000 in in-kind services as the City's portion of the JLUS cost-share agreement. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
A Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) is a cooperative planning effort between a military installation and the surrounding community, designed to promote community growth and development that is compatible with an installation's training and operational missions. These studies are community-driven efforts, with a Local Sponsor that applies for and receives a grant to undertake the study from the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), with participation from other jurisdictions, stakeholders, the general public, and the military installation.
In March 2014, the DoD Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach (Station) identified an opportunity to conduct a JLUS on the Station's effect on surrounding communities, including the explosives anchorage inside the Long Beach Breakwater. City staff met with the DoD, Station command staff, the City of Seal Beach, and other interested parties in November 2014 and January 2015 to discuss potential interest in further pursuing an application for the JLUS.
City staff pursued the JLUS under the City Council's direction to look at opportunities to study the Long Beach Breakwater. In February 2015, Long Beach and Seal Beach decided that Seal Beach, as the host city of the Station, would serve as the application sponsor, administering the federal grant on behalf of the local jurisdictions; however, both cities would equally share the responsibilities of determining the study's scope, particularly given Long Beach's interests in relation to the Army Corps' East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Study. As a part of the JLUS grant application to the OEA, Resolutions from all participating jurisdictions must be attached to the application. The jurisdictions include Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, and Westminster.
The JLUS is conducted in a collaborative manner involving all stakeholders, including local governments, the local military base command staff, community business leaders, chambers of commerce, homebuilders, real estate interests, environmentalists, and affected residents. As a part of the JLUS, stakeholders will consider compatibility of the explosive anchorage with other interests relative to the East San Pedro Bay. The JLUS can assist with identifying opportunities and areas of interest to minimize or eliminate potential explosives anchorage incompatibility within the East San Pedro Bay. As a consequence, issues of water quality and recreational use can be studied. The study will complement the City's East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study, a partnership with the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
The JLUS typically takes 18-20 months to complete. The final results of this study will serve as a guide for future changes in the East San Pedro Bay with respect to the explosives anchorage, and will not include a "recommended alternative" for those future changes.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Richard Anthony on March 10, 2015 and by Budget Management Officer Victoria Bell on March 11, 2015.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action on this matter is requested on April 7, 2015 to authorize the City Manager to participate in a Joint Land Use (JLUS) study with the Department of the Navy.
FISCAL IMPACT
Participation in the JLUS will require the City to provide a local match consisting of in-kind staff time and services to the cost of the JLUS. The Department of Defense, Office of Economic Adjustment, estimates that this study would cost, at most, $400,000. The local match requirement of 10 percent of the JLUS cost, or $40,000, would be shared between the five participating jurisdictions, with City of Seal Beach and the City of Long Beach having the largest cost-share based on both cities' leadership and interest in the JLUS. Staff estimates that the City's contribution would be up to $16,000 (in-kind staff support), and the City will absorb this requirement within existing budgeted staffing resources. There is no local job impact associated with the recommended action.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
BODY
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO PARTICIPATE IN A JOINT LAND USE STUDY WITH THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
Respectfully Submitted,
APPROVED:
PATRICK H. WEST
CITY MANAGER