Los Cerritos Land Trust wants answers on land-swap deal

LONG BEACH -- In an 11th-hour move, Los Cerritos Land Trust board members issued a call Friday for a delay of Tuesday's schedued City Council vote on the controversial land-swap deal.
The following is the environmental organization's statement:

"Dear Friend of the Los Cerritos Wetlands,

"Back when the simpler land swap proposal first became public it seemed like one of those win-win situations. Why not trade out some underused city-owned property in urban Long Beach in order to move into public hands an important portion of the Los Cerritos Wetlands?

 "But since this deal was first brought before the public, more worrisome details have come out. These details are not small, insignificant matters; they are at the heart of the ability to protect and restore. They should be addressed before any vote is taken on the swap.

"So we hope the City Council has the good sense to postpone the vote on the land swap until some important and troubling aspects have been fully aired and discussed. What are our concerns and questions? Let me spell them out.

"Cost
It may well be nice and generous of the city to agree to subsidize this land swap since it is true we have no clear evaluation of what the dollar value of the wetlands is. And yes, wetlands are 'priceless.' However we just don't have a clear picture of how polluted the land is, how much of the wetlands is restorable, how much it will cost for clean up, and how much of that land will be required to remain as oil wells and roads to service those wells. The state of California is prohibited from paying more than fair market value. The city is not. So it is reasonable to be concerned that, if the city takes a big financial hit to purchase these wetlands they might be tempted in times of financial crisis (like now) to sell them off or use them for purposes other than protected wetlands.

"Guarantees
"We have said all along that a good way to help ensure this land remains as open space as it awaits its transfer to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority is that a conservation easement or deed restriction that travels with the land be a part of the deal. The city won't do that because to do so would depress the value of the land. But it is indeed a good way to demonstrate to the public that their intentions toward this land are to protect and preserve it. Given how broke the state of California is, and how little funding is available for even priority acquisitions like Los Cerritos Wetlands, who knows how long it will be before the land can be acquired, especially when you factor in the big price tag for cleaning up the toxins in the soil?

"Zoning
"For some reason the city seems to think this wetlands parcel to be traded to the city is zoned as commercial, but that is just not the case. This land has never been certified as commercial by the Coastal Commission. That means this land is likely considered wetlands by the Coastal Commission and therefore worth far less on the open real estate market than the city thinks it is. Again, this fact places the city in a more financially vulnerable position and thus more easily tempted to exploit the land to try to make up for the loss.

"Oil Rights
"The latest is that the land owner has put the oil rights to this land on the open market. Who will the new owner be? Will he be a locally owned, responsible company like Signal Hill Petroleum or a cash-strapped, highly leveraged firm that will put the priority of extractions ahead of environmental protection

"The bottom line is that there are just too many questions about this deal that need to be answered before the land swap moves forward. There is no way the City Council should vote on the land swap until the questions we have raised have been fully answered. We ask the City Council to postpone a vote on this land swap for at least 30 days, and we encourage you to ask your local council member to support a postponement.

Elizabeth Lambe
Executive Director
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust