PPCC Library Integration Test

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Memo to the Palisades Community regarding Gladstones
(from the PPCC Execu0ve Commi3ee)
Many Palisadians have raised ques1ons and concerns about the Gladstones redevelopment project and the recent
Coastal Commission approval of a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) for the project. Although the PPCC Board has not
taken a posi1on on the project, the Execu1ve CommiGee (EC) is concerned about an apparent paGern of non-disclosure
and/or unexplained failure by government officials and the concessionaire/developer to communicate important facts
with PPCC and the Palisades community. We hope to obtain answers from project proponents at a special PPCC mee1ng,
set for October 30, 2025. Meanwhile, in the interest of transparency we share the following informa1on.
Timeline/Key Facts1
2016-2017: The County Board of Supervisors (BOS) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new restaurant
concession at the Gladstones site (the current concession was then set to expire). Community leaders and residents
advocated for a bus turnaround in the parking lot to serve cons1tuents who live and work on the west end of Sunset
Blvd., where buses do not travel (there is no space for a turnaround). At then-Supervisor Kuehl’s insistence, a
turnaround requirement was added to the RFP; eventually PCH Beach Associates (PBA) was selected as the project
concessionaire/developer.
May 2018: County Beaches & Harbors (B&H) and Supervisor Kuehl’s staff briefed PPCC on the proposed new
project for the Gladstones site (with a bus turnaround in the parking lot); members expressed concerns about height,
footprint, sq. footage and viewshed protec1on; we were told that the required regulatory approval process, including
CEQA and CDP approval, would take several years, that the Supervisor was also concerned about the viewshed, that
“many people would be weighing in” as the process unfolded, and that the Supervisor thought that the project “is
very cool.” This was the last 0me PPCC heard from our Supervisor/s, their depu0es, B&H, or any staffers about the
project, un0l seven years later, when Supervisor Horvath’s deputy Zac Gaidzik (representa1ve to PPCC for Kuehl and
then Horvath, since 2018) suddenly announced in August 2025 that the Coastal Commission would soon hear the
project, which would include a bus turnaround (see below).
2019-2020: Acer numerous postponements of expected updates to PPCC, the concessionaire (PBA) showed a
model of a proposed Frank Gehry-designed, Wolfgang Puck restaurant to the public in June 2019, at a mee1ng room
in Caruso’s Palisades Village. The model was different from the now-approved, current restaurant design. During this
1me frame, updates/briefings to PPCC con1nued to be postponed, both before and acer the Covid crisis.
June 2021: PBA (Thomas Tellefsen) gave a project update to PPCC; no plans, drawings or models were shown. He
explained the many steps required to obtain project approvals, confirmed that a bus turnaround would be included,
and noted that, while making some design adjustments, PBA was s1ll proceeding with the “same vision” as previously
shown to the public. In response to concerns about light and noise from the restaurant, Tellefsen acknowledged that
residents had raised these concerns during the 2019 mee1ng when the model was shown, but stated that PBA was
s1ll “working to try and resolve these issues” and that he would return to address concerns. He never did.
1 These facts are based on publicly available resources, including: documents posted on websites of the LA County Board of
Supervisors, LA County Beaches & Harbors, the State Legislature and the California Coastal Commission, as well as PPCC
meeBng minutes (on www.pacpalicc.org); government staff and community members also provided informaBon.

2022-2023: The LA County Beach Commission held mee1ngs related to the concession agreement, but neither
PBA nor any government representa1ve informed PPCC of these mee1ngs. In September 2022 (unknown to PPCC),
the BOS, on B&H’s recommenda1on, approved then-project plans (at a lower height and less sq. footage than the
now-approved project) and issued a categorical CEQA exemp@on. PPCC was not informed of these ac8ons or the
then-project plans, and there were no updates to PPCC on the project’s status during these years.
2024: Again, there were no project updates in 2024. However, In an obscure legisla1ve process unknown to
PPCC or the community, ini0ated by the Governor and with Sen. Allen’s knowledge, in August 2024 the state Senate
Budget CommiGee chaired by Sen. Wiener (author of SB 79) draced language of a ”trailer bill” that was tacked on to
the main state budget bill (AB 178) for the next year, which exempted the project from state law and any city
permi\ng and approval processes, other than county and Coastal Commission approval. As a result, the California
Resources Code was amended to benefit PBA and proponents of the project by effec1vely streamlining project
approvals (which, as the Coastal Commission later remarked, eliminated a city requirement to post on-site public
no1ce of the CDP hearing – which in fact was not posted by any of the CDP applicants (PBA, the county/B&H and the
state/CalParks). Since Gladstones is located in Sen. Allen’s district and his staff acknowledged that he knew about the
trailer bill (which he also voted for), we asked his staff who in the first place proposed or suggested the idea for this
legisla1ve help (i.e., who requested this apparent favor of the Governor), and why we were never no@fied of these
ac@ons; we’ve not had a response. Again, no county or state official, their staffers, or PBA, ever informed PPCC or
the community of this bill and the significant change in state law specifically to benefit project proponents.
2025: The County Beach Commission held a special mee1ng in March 2025 to discuss an extension of the
Gladstones concession agreement; again, PPCC was not informed of this mee1ng (or of other Beach Commission
mee1ngs related to this project). In April 2025, unknown to PPCC, on a mo@on by Supervisor Horvath, the BOS
approved new updated/current plans for the project (taller in height, with larger sq. footage than prior plans) and re-
confirmed the prior categorical CEQA exemp1on. PPCC was never no8fied of these plans or ac8ons at any 8me by
any governmental official or staffer or PBA. And in August 2025, in the first project update to PPCC in many years,
Supervisor Horvath’s deputy Zac Gaidzik announced briefly that the Gladstones project was proceeding, that it would
be heard by the Coastal Commission in two months (not specifying a date), and that it would include a bus turnaround
(which PPCC had long supported, not knowing about any plans to include more structures and other transit-related
elements in the parking lot). PPCC never received wriGen no1ce of the October 8th CDP hearing, only later learning of
the hearing agenda, which stated that the plans included “transporta1on sta1ons”(a “misnomer,” according to
Gaidzik). Moreover, we first learned of the actual project plans when they were posted on the Coastal Commission
website only a few days before the hearing. Again, neither PBA nor any governmental representa8ves had
previously shared the project plans, sought input from PPCC or the community, or provided an opportunity for
residents’ ques8ons and concerns to be addressed before the project was approved.
No sa1sfactory explana1on has been offered to date for the failure to no1fy, inform or keep PPCC and the community
apprised of the status and plans for this project – other than the limited briefings that took place years ago, long
before the current plans were developed, or the sudden announcement this past August of a Coastal Commission
hearing. We hope that sufficient informa1on and answers will be now provided by project proponents at the October
30th PPCC mee1ng, so that the community can beGer assess the project and its poten1al impacts.
By the PPCC EC:
Sue Kohl, President; Quen8n Fleming, Vice-President; Jenny Li, Treasurer; Beth Holden Garland, Secretary;
Maryam Zar, Chair Emeritus; Chris8na Spitz, Elected Rep (At-large); John Padden, Organiza8onal Rep (P.R.I.D.E.)
October 16, 2025
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