Seal Beach board opens 45-day review of draft EIR for housing element, solicits public comment

Seal Beach’s Environmental Quality Control Board on June 5 opened a 45-day public review of a programmatic draft environmental impact report for the city’s housing element and zoning-code update and encouraged residents to submit written comments by June 23.

The draft EIR, prepared by Stantec, evaluates the housing element update — a state-required chapter of the general plan that identifies local housing needs and a work program to meet them — and a site inventory the city says will help meet its regional housing needs allocation (RHNA). Anna Radnich of Stantec told the board, “This presentation will be available on our website after this evening,” and Trevor Musensky emphasized, “The draft has all the information for the community that’s watching… Please review the draft. It’s where all the details are.”

Why it matters: the housing element is mandatory under state law and certification can affect the city’s access to state and federal funding and influence entitlement streamlining for housing projects. The draft EIR is programmatic — prepared at a policy level to evaluate assumptions and potential citywide impacts rather than a single construction project — and lists five significant and unavoidable impacts in areas including recreation, transportation, and public services.

Key facts: Stantec and city staff told the board the housing element site inventory includes eight housing opportunity sites, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and pipeline projects; the city’s identified inventory is intended to accommodate an RHNA allocation of about 1,243 units. The consultants said six of the eight identified sites would require rezoning and five of those would be rezoned to a “mixed use residential high density” designation. The EIR’s build‑out assumptions intentionally exceed the RHNA number to give the city flexibility when projects come forward.

Public process and comment: the consultants described the CEQA process and the draft EIR comment rules: the document was released following a notice of preparation issued in late 2023, the draft is available online, and the public comment period closes June 23. Trevor Musensky said the team must respond to substantive comments on the merits of the analysis before issuing a final EIR. The board made clear at the meeting that no action would be taken on the draft EIR that evening; the session was dedicated to public and board comment.

Board discussion: commissioners asked how best to structure comments and suggested focusing by topic (project description, resource topics such as water or traffic, cumulative impacts, and alternatives). Several board members stressed the importance of documenting site‑specific conditions now — for example, flooding or historic site uses — so comments enter the administrative record.

What comes next: the city will accept written comments (email and mail) for the record through the public comment deadline and Stantec will prepare responses that will be included in the final EIR package. Any future development proposals on the opportunity sites would undergo subsequent entitlement and environmental review; the consultants said a programmatic EIR does not automatically permit construction without later, site‑level review.

For the record: Chair Perrell opened public comment by reading the public comment rules: “At this time, members of the public may address the Environmental Quality Control Board regarding any items within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board.” No vote or certification occurred at the meeting.