The Long Beach City Council allowed two Downtown housing projects to move forward Tuesday night after it denied appeals that sought to block hundreds of new housing units from being built based on environmental concerns.
A 141-unit development that would knock down the Dolly Varden Hotel that was approved by the Planning Commission in November and a 21-story tower that would bring 203 units to the site of the shuttered Long Beach Cafe on Ocean Boulevard were both challenged by Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility (SAFER), but the council denied both appeals unanimously.
SAFER, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that has filed challenges against many developments in the region, claimed the two Downtown projects required greater scrutiny because they were not part of the city’s original Downtown Plan that was adopted in 2012.