Los Alamitos planning panel recommends Lampson Park Place to council after intense debate on sewer, traffic and EIR

The Los Alamitos Planning Commission on Oct. 23 voted to recommend approval of the Lampson Park Place housing project to the City Council after lengthy public comment and revisions to conditions intended to lock in affordable housing and protect the city from utility costs.

Staff opened the continued public hearing by reviewing prior concerns and amendments, saying the applicant had revised landscape, parking and trash-enclosure plans to meet municipal code and that a condition would hold back certificates of occupancy on 17 market-rate units until construction on the affordable housing component has commenced (now framed as issuance of building permits and commencement within the permit period). Staff also reported that if Seal Beach declines a sewer connection, the Rossmore/Rossmore Los Alamitos area sewer district or the developer would build an extension at the developer’s expense.

The applicant told commissioners they were “fully committed to building this project in its entirety” and offered to add language to condition 109 clarifying that sewer connections would be managed through the appropriate sewer agency and obtained “at no cost to the city of Los Alamitos” prior to issuance of building permits.

Residents and stakeholders were sharply divided. Susan Perel, an environmental engineer and longtime Seal Beach resident, told the commission she could not see how the project’s environmental impact report (EIR) could be certified because it finds unavoidable, significant environmental effects and does not provide feasible mitigation or alternatives. “The project is too big,” she said, urging a reduced unit count and recirculation of the EIR so mitigation could be re-evaluated.

Several Seal Beach speakers, including Catherine Showalter of the Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board, raised concerns about vehicle miles traveled, stormwater detention reliability on a historically low-lying site, sewer capacity and construction impacts on Lampson Avenue. Members of the College Park East neighborhood warned of increased traffic on local streets and potential strain on Seal Beach infrastructure.

Supporters said the project would provide much-needed below-market-rate housing and first-time-homebuyer opportunities. Elizabeth Hansberg of People for Housing Orange County urged land-use approval so utility providers could begin negotiations, and the American Legion commander, Brian Bell, said the project’s veteran preference and affordable units would help attract employees who cannot afford local housing.

Commissioners spent much of their discussion focusing on specific conditions. Key edits included changing a requirement that parcel 1 “shall” be conveyed to an affordable-housing provider to language allowing ("may") conveyance; clarifying that the final 17 market-rate units’ certificates of occupancy would be withheld until the affordable component had building permits and construction commenced (with language to avoid gaming the milestone by merely pulling, then shelving, permits); recording the regulatory agreement concurrently with tract map TTM 2022-133; and ensuring reciprocal access easements and CC&Rs preclude blocking internal circulation.

Commissioner (speaker 6, referred to in the transcript as Art) moved to approve the project with those modifications; a second was recorded and the motion passed. The commission voted to recommend approval on four related resolutions (identified in the record by staff as Res. 2024-06, 2024-07, 2024-08 and 2024-09) with the agreed clarifications. Chair Quilty confirmed that the conditions require verification of sewer capacity studies and utility agency approvals before building permits can be issued.

Next steps: the commission’s recommendation and the amended conditions will be forwarded to the City Council for final action. Staff and the applicant agreed the regulatory agreement will be recorded concurrently with the tract map and that condition language will be cleaned up in staff’s report to the council.

Quotes in context: “I do not see how this project EIR can be certifiable,” said Susan Perel, citing inadequate mitigation and unexamined alternatives. “We are fully committed to building this project in its entirety,” the applicant representative said, offering to add a condition guaranteeing no cost to the city for sewer connections. “The EIR evaluates cumulative impacts,” the city’s environmental consultant said in response to concerns about other nearby projects.

The commission’s recommendation does not itself authorize construction. Multiple planning-commission conditions require approval of sewer capacity studies and will-serve/utility letters and the recordation of a regulatory agreement before market-rate occupancy milestones are reached.