| Los Angeles County, CA | November 3, 2009 Election |
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TerraneaBy Jim KnightCandidate for Council Member; City of Rancho Palos Verdes |
This information is provided by the candidate | |
Saved public lands and helped design hotel environmental planOne of my earliest civic involvements with Rancho Palos Verdes concerned the Destination Hotel's proposal at Long Point. In the early stages of development, the original hotel plan showed an 18 golf course running through City Hall property and extending up into the Ocean Front Estates property at the end of Hawthorne. I felt this proposed land use was not in the best interest of the community and that public lands should remain accessible to all without the fees and restriction of use associated with the hotel golf plan. In researching an economic report put out by Destination Hotels, I discovered that a 9-hole golf course was not what the hotel needed anyway. The report stated the hotel needed to make arrangements with a world class 18-hole golf course such as Trump's. I designed an alternative City Hall plan that preserved the open space for its inherent recreational and educational value. With the help of our City Founders, I made a presentation to both the Planning Commission and the City Council. The Council ultimately agreed and this public land is now saved for general public use as well as events such as our Fourth of July, fund raisers for Las Candalistas as well as the temporary Senior Center. The trails of that original plan are basically what has been approved by the Public Use Master Plan committee and adopted by City Council. I had maintained a respectable relationship with the contact persons for Destination Hotels and I was able to share an alternative vision I had for their hotel on their site. I believed that Terranea could create an enriching resort experience in an environmentally sound manner that embraced the tremendous natural resources found in our beautiful coastline. I continued to work with the development team and I took a course at UC Irvine at my own expense about bioswales (a natural process of water treatment) and storm drain biofilters so that when I met with the developers I had the knowledge to help shape their water quality plan to protect our precious coastland tidal waters. I, along with some others, encouraged low water, native plantings and an increase of buffer to the bluff edge to further protect the endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly. In a meeting at the White Point Preserve I had a chance to talk with the landscape architects and show them the wonderful colors of Peninsula natives. At the June Terranea opening ceremonies, I had a chance to talk with Terranea VP Todd Majcher and he told me that I was instrumental in shaping the final vision of the resort. When I heard that, I felt my work and vigilance was all worthwhile. With the help of many in the community, and by my respectfully keeping a line of communication open with the Lowe team, and their willingness to listen, I think the hotel turned out to be a model project. |
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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 20, 2009 07:58
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