Community Invited to Participate in Reimagining Long Beach’s Downtown and Shoreline Areas

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PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA - The City of Long Beach is hosting an open house event to provide an additional opportunity for the community to get involved and offer input on a significant planning effort that will guide future development of the city's Downtown Plan area. Residents and businesses are also encouraged to participate in an online survey to provide feedback on a related initiative aimed at reimagining the city's shoreline area.

Presented by the Community Development Department, the event and survey build on various engagement and outreach efforts led by the City over the past year to update development regulations and establish a common vision and supportive land use strategies for the future of the Downtown Plan and shoreline areas. These actions have involved several events and activities to raise awareness and gather feedback from residents and stakeholders. As part of this effort, the City has also partnered with specialists, community-based organizations and neighborhood associations to help ensure a comprehensive and inclusive planning process.

Downtown Plan Update and Open House Event
The Downtown Plan encompasses the area roughly bounded by the Los Angeles River to the west, Alamitos Avenue to the east, Anaheim Street to the north and Ocean Boulevard to the south. Over the past several years, this area has been developed significantly with completion of several new residential and mixed-use projects, many new small businesses, and a new Civic Center. This planning effort aims to update development guidelines with a renewed focus on promoting more investment and expanding housing opportunities for all income levels. Hundreds of residents, community organizations, neighborhood associations and business representatives have participated in community engagement events and activities over the past year to inform the Downtown Plan update.

The community is invited to participate in an in-person open house event to learn more about this initiative and provide feedback that will be used to inform a draft Plan update, which is expected to be released this summer.

The event will take place on Saturday, May 18, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Billie Jean King Main Library (200 W. Broadway). Those interested in attending are requested to RSVP online. Interpretation services will be available in Spanish, and other languages upon request via the RSVP form. Refreshments will be provided.

Additional outreach opportunities for this project will be announced throughout the planning process. The community is encouraged to learn more about this effort by visiting longbeach.gov/dtplanlb.

Downtown Shoreline Vision Plan and Online Survey
The Downtown shoreline area serves as the threshold between Downtown Long Beach and the city's waterfront and covers the coastal area south of Ocean Boulevard from Golden Shore Drive to Alamitos Avenue. This area is home to iconic residences, offices, hotels and restaurants set amid the city's Convention Center, harbors, marinas, shoreline parks and beaches. As the Plan has not been updated since the 1970s, the vision planning process underway aims to create a community vision and guidelines for creation of a world-class waterfront that will serve as a global destination. The Vision Plan will provide a foundation for a future update of the Plan, which is expected to begin next year.

City staff has developed Draft Guiding Principles (Principles), which will provide a framework for the Vision Plan, based on community input received over the past year. The Principles include broad, aspirational ideas for the future of the Downtown Shoreline. The community is encouraged to participate in an online survey to review the Principles, identify priorities and provide feedback on any additional ideas to be considered when defining the future of the Downtown shoreline. The online survey is available in English, Spanish, Khmer and Tagalog through June 24, 2024.

Additional outreach opportunities for this effort, including interactive displays that will be installed throughout the shoreline area, and a three-day community design charette during which the community will be invited to work directly with neighbors, business owners, stakeholders, City staff, and a team of talented planners and designers to illustrate the community's vision for the future, will be announced throughout the planning process. The community is encouraged to learn more about this initiative by visiting longbeach.gov/dtshorelb.

The Downtown Plan update and Downtown Shoreline Vision Plan are expected to go before the Planning Commission and Long Beach City Council for consideration in early 2025. Those interested in receiving project notifications can sign up online.

Media inquiries can be directed to Rick de la Torre, Community Information Officer, Long Beach Development Services Department, at 562.570.7174 or [email protected].

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