Rebuild Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool

At long last! The Belmont Pool project will finally be heard by the California Coastal Commission. The hearing will be at 9:00 am on Thursday, February 11 via teleconference (http://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/agenda/#/2021/2). Get your emails and letters ready to submit to the commission! More details later on where to send your comments.

We thought we had great news late this week - the Coastal Commission had placed its hearing for the approval of the Belmont Pool replacement project on its Dec. 10 agenda. Oops! The commission's staff failed to follow all the rules for "noticing" the meeting to all parties who have previously expressed interest in the project, either by mail or by public testimony. Such noticing is required at least 10 days before the item is to be heard. However, a number of the interested ...parties did not receive notice until as late as Dec. 3, just 7 days out. As of now, the item has been rescheduled to be heard during the commission's February meeting. No details for that meeting are currently available. Bummer!

With the hottest days of summer coming up Long Beach will begin offering limited programming at its pools throughout the City beginning on Monday June 29, 2020 including the Belmont Pool, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park Pool, and beginning July 6th at Silverado Park Pool. Lap Swim and Water Exercise Lap swim and water exercise programs will be offered on a reservation-only basis, with increased cleaning and other modifications to better protect the safety of staff and participan...Continue reading

Not directly about the Belmont pool, but hoping to reach those who follow news about the pool with this article. USA Swimming Announces Recovery Plan and Relief Grants For Clubs https://www.usaswimming.org/news-landing-page%2f2020%2f04%2

Thank you, Suzie Price, for all your efforts to help get the Belmont Plaza Pool rebuilt! Great News for the Belmont Pool Dear Neighbor,... Last week the Belmont Pool Project took another huge step forward as my City Council colleagues voted with me to unanimously support the newly designed project and will be referring it to the California Coastal Commission for approval. This is a project that has been in the works since before I was elected and I have been glad to lead it to this point. This facility will be an amazing asset to the City hosting competitive swimming and diving competitions, as well as providing residents with programming, recreational swimming, and active water play areas for children of all ages. The new Belmont Pool will be a place where high-school and collegiate athletes can compete, a place where seniors can take classes to stay active, a place where anyone can swim for enjoyment or exercise, and where kids can play as they develop the skills to swim. This project has everything we as a City could ask for including multiple pools and recreational opportunities for all levels of swimmers. Additionally, the new pool addresses concerns of sea-level rise by moving the facility out of projected modeling, and has reduced the height without losing any amenities to the public, not to mention a hugely reduced total cost. I am excited for this fantastic project to move on to its next step toward construction as it will be evaluated by the California Coastal Commission. This has been a long time coming and I am so glad to see this project approved by the City Council. If you have any questions please contact my office at (562)570-6300 or by email at [email protected]. Sincerely, Suzie Price Councilwoman, Third District

It's time to rally the troops again! The revised design and amended EIR (and other technical requirements for zoning and other legal requirements) are going back to the Long Beach Planning Committee tomorrow evening, December 19, at 5:00 in the Bob Foster Council Chambers in the new City Hall at 411 W Ocean Blvd. Please attend if you can. If you cannot attend the meeting and are in agreement that the Belmont pool project remains badly needed despite the downsizing, please add...ress an email expressing your support of the staff recommendation to: Members of the Long Beach Planning Commission c/o Scott Kinsey, Project Planner ([email protected]), and cc: Christopher Koontz, Planning Bureau Manager ([email protected]) If the city staff recommendation is approved by the Planning Commission, it is anticipated that the same small group of those who continue to oppose the project (no matter what form it takes) can be expected to file an appeal, which will then be heard by the city council in January. The goal is to have the Coastal Commission hearing at the commission's February meeting in Long Beach. The staff report for the meeting can be found at http://longbeach.legistar.com/View.ashx That report and all the exhibits to it are at http://longbeach.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx See also the Grunion Gazette article dated Dec. 17 http://www.gazettes.com//article_120c44ac-20ee-11ea-92e2-1

Farewell to the beautiful design shown in the cover photo above. See the new drawing in the Grunion Gazette article here: http://www.gazettes.com//article_ef98e5cc-1857-11ea-b059-4

Still waiting to see the new design. City staff are pushing hard to get the project on the Coastal Commission agenda for its February meeting in Long Beach.

Long Beach Business Journal's article about the changes on store for the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool rebuild... https://www.lbbusinessjournal.com/future-of-belmont-pool-r/

City officials held a meeting last week with with the members of the original advisory committee for the pool design. There was bad news and good news. Most of the details are in the Grunion Gazette article dated yesterday, June 20. http://www.gazettes.com//article_ff420078-92e0-11e9-94a6-a. It is clear the the Coastal Commission's obstinacy will not allow the project to go forward as designed. While we could continue the fight, the cost continues to rise, to an estimated ...$145 million today, due to inflation in construction costs. With oil prices remaining low, the finding gap just gets bigger and bigger. By going forward with redesigning the project to be entirely outdoors, the revised estimated cost is approximately $82 million. It is believed that the roughly $20 million difference between $82 million and the $61 million previously set aside can be funded. The need for additional pool space in Long Beach is great. While the project will no longer be what we had all dreamed of, it will still be an amazing facility. I took fairly detailed notes during the meeting, so if anyone wants a copy of them, let me know. ---LJ

Would the California Coastal Commission issue a permit for this pool? https://www.multifamilyexecutive.com//transparent-infinity

Next step in the process - Coastal Commission! https://lbpost.com//belmont-shore-pool-plaza-coastal-comm/

Big step forward!

A long awaited update on the project, from City Staff. More will be posted as learned. The City continues to make progress on the entitlements for the Belmont Pool. City staff are working to finalize the Coastal Development Permit application, and have spent several months working with Coastal staff to understand the various questions they have about the project and the steps needed to bring this item before the Coastal Commission. These include conducting additional in-dep...th sea level rise analysis to understand any potential sea level rise impact on the potential site, and formulating solutions such as sand replenishment to ensure that the facility is not affect by sea level rise, or be interpreted as functioning like a sea wall. City staff is also developing a robust outreach program with linkages to the City’s current recreational programming to enhance the entire community’s access to the pool, which will include marketing in multiple languages, enhanced transportation options from popular recreation sites in disadvantaged areas, and incorporating the pool into the City’s current citywide recreational offerings so the pool serves the broadest population possible, with an emphasis on connecting disadvantaged communities to swimming opportunities. There continues to be active litigation against the pool and the City has been preparing for the court hearing, which is scheduled to take place on June 7, 2018. Additionally, the City has been exploring funding opportunities, including looking at the option for sponsorship revenue, and have brought on an expert in the field to develop recommendations for the City on the feasibility of that option. The plan was to conduct a feasibility analysis and then determine if we should proceed with the full effort (which costs approximately $500,000). That feasibility study is being wrapped up, after which we will likely take a short pause before considering any implementation phase as many of the interviews the consultant had resulted in some trepidation for major donors because the pool hadn’t been approved by the Coastal Commission and the concerns voiced by their staff. The Coastal Development Permit has taken longer than expected due primarily to the issues mentioned above, but we expect to submit the application for the Coastal Development Permit to Coastal by the end of May. Bottom line, it continues to move along, a lot of effort is being put in by City staff, and it continues to be a high priority project for the City. See more

See the April 6 interview by Harry Saltzgaver with Councilmember Suzie Price regarding the Belmont pool project (roughly the 1st 1:50 of the video - the rest of the video covers other subjects). http://www.gazettes.com//youtube_b9ba4f66-3a02-11e8-8f1e-3

Paul Smith, Brian Goodell, Lucy Johnson... We're trying! Very briefly...Mission Viejo doesn't have to deal with the California Coastal Commission and the fixation on sea level rise, but Long Beach unfortunately does.