City OKs Developer’s $2-Million Settlement

City officials have approved paying $2 million to settle a 7-year-old lawsuit with a developer who tried unsuccessfully to develop restaurants and shops with a Greek theme next to the municipal pier.

Stanley Bloom sued the city in 1991, shortly after a divided City Council, acting as the city’s Redevelopment Agency, blocked the proposed development. He sought $8 million for lost profits and interest.

Before 1991, the City Council majority had consistently supported the development on 3 1/2 acres of city-owned beachfront property off Pacific Coast Highway, between 1st and Main streets.

But environmental and citizens’ groups opposed the project, contending that building new restaurants on the beach side of the highway would ruin the city’s ocean view and would limit public access to the beach.

In 1990, city voters overwhelmingly approved Measure C, which prohibits the city from selling or leasing beach or park land without a citywide vote of approval on each project.

That victory prompted the City Council to reconsider its support on the project, leading to a 4-3 vote to deny the developer a lease.

The area Bloom planned to develop is now the site of the Pier Plaza, an amphitheater and a restaurant complex that city officials hope will be an anchor to the city’s downtown and beachfront.