Editorial: Time for North Bluff Leadership

We have a gigantic dilemma looming in our near future that will test whether this current group of Council members can learn from recent history how to lead. It involves housing on the North Bluff (the 3 acre property on the southwest corner of Coast Highway and Via de la Valle/Border Avenue.)

We are in court with a development applicant, Carol Lazier, who is claiming that the State law’s “builders’ remedy” allows her to build the Seaside Ridge project, with 259 units (74 affordable), on her North Bluff lot. Our Council had hoped a similar situation in La Cañada Flintridge would get resolved in court favorably to Del Mar’s interests, but that city had to drop its appeal after the state came in on the side of the developer and the Court required the city to post a very expensive $14 million appeal bond. We now have a window of opportunity to develop a strategy to protect our interests, before the courts decide our fate.

The case will be heard in June. Yes, Del Mar’s situation is different from La Cañada Flintridge because we are in the coastal zone and subject to the Coastal Act – but the Coastal Commission (CCC) is also under pressure to harmonize the Coastal Act with the state’s urgent need for more housing. (And CCC had no problem declining to review Watermark.) The state may decide to side with Lazier and defend the applicability of the “builder’s remedy” to this case. If Del Mar loses in Superior Court, we face the risk of an expensive bond in order to appeal the case. The applicant has urged Del Mar to “put down its sword” and presumably would be open to settlement talks. Del Mar is at an inflection point: continue a high risk “winner takes all” case in court, or begin settlement discussions with the applicant soon, as our best opportunity to achieve changes to the project that would make it more compatible with Del Mar. If we can’t achieve an acceptable result in settlement negotiations, we can continue to pursue our claims in court.

Of course any settlement will involve approving some level of housing on the property. It could, however, give us some leverage to influence the scale of the project and get some exceptional public benefits.

Some may remember  a previous Council led by Terry Gaasterland and Dave Druker that chose to oppose the Watermark project near the Jimmy Durante traffic circle. Their opposition resulted in a much larger project, loss of significant public benefits, and no right of discretionary DRB or City review. Their delay tactics also contributed to this potential opening for a “builders’ remedy.” Del Mar has little credibility because of our  embarrassingly poor record in achieving our fair share of affordable housing.

We now face a similar decision point. It will take a lot of political courage for our current Council leaders to salvage some level of control over this property. We need wise leaders to step up. Leadership is not pandering to the fears and unrealistic wishes of constituents. Good leaders guide us through the factual intricacies of issues and help us  understand the hard choices we have to make to protect our interests as much as possible.