City Council Proceeds on Plans to Annex Vacant Land

Plans to extend Long Beach’s borders over 200 acres of vacant land--including federally protected wetlands in an eastern portion of the city--moved forward this week as the City Council agreed to an exchange of tax revenues with the county.

The resolution on property taxes and other levies must still be approved by the county Board of Supervisors. After that, county- and city-sponsored annexation hearings would determine the fate of the vacant, hourglass-shaped property.

Councilman Doug Drummond says the annexation would help reduce traffic in the area by allowing the extension of Studebaker Road. But Long Beach environmentalists worry that it would help developers who want to build homes and offices near sensitive marshland.