Terranea Hotel Resort & Spa

Project Planner: Amy Seeraty, Senior Planner

Contact Information: Email Amy Seeraty / (310) 544-5231

Long Point Development LLC may be contacted at (310) 802-7400

Panoramic View of the Terranea Hotel Resort and Spa

Conditional Use Permit No. 215, et. al. Revision "S"

The City Council will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday, September 6, 2016, at 7 p.m. at Hesse Park Community Building, 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard, Rancho Palos Verdes, to consider Terranea's request to amend the Council-adopted Conditions of Approval to allow the construction of a 765 square foot outdoor pool kitchen that will be constructed at the northeast corner of the main pool area.

Click here to view the Public Notice

Click here to view the proposed project plans

Conditional Use Permit No. 215, et. al. Revision "R"

The City Council will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday, February 16, 2016, at 7 p.m. at Hesse Park Community Building, 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard, Rancho Palos Verdes, to consider Terranea's request to amend the Council-adopted Conditions of Approval to: 1) Restripe the entry driveway to create two inbound lanes and one outbound lane by replacing the required bicycle lanes with sharrow lanes (shared vehicle and bicycle lane) with no modification to the required parking spaces along the outbound lane; and, 2) Replace the turf at the Meadow Lawn area (adjacent to the ballroom facilities) with permeable pavers to facilitate the current practice of installing temporary tents in this area in connection with the ballrooms.

Click here to view the February 16, 2016 City Council Staff Report

Click here to view the Public Notice

Click here to view the proposed project plans

Conditional Use Permit No. 215, ET. AL. Revision "Q"

The City Council will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday, October 21, 2014, at 7 p.m. at Hesse Park Community Building, 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard, Rancho Palos Verdes, to consider Terranea's request to amend the Council-adopted Conditions of Approval to:


  1. Delete paragraphs (c) and (d) from Condition No. 40, which require a 1% Transfer Fee be paid to the nonprofit corporation upon each transfer of ownership of the on-site owned condominium units including, without limitation, the bungalow units, resort villas, casitas and fifty hotel guest suites or guest rooms in the main hotel and to establish the nonprofit corporation with a 7-member board of directors to undertake the duties specified in this condition
  2. Construct a new 9,400-square-feet Golf and Landscape Maintenance Yard located off the lower public parking lot
  3. Construct a new 1,675-square-feet upper resort pool (including 9,500-square-feet of deck area) and a 1,100 square foot ancillary pool building to accommodate the pool equipment, restrooms and pool bar (proposed to be located at the existing lawn area between the main hotel building and Mar'sel restaurant)
  4. Construct a 350-square-foot outdoor bar and seating area located at the main pool area

July 17, 2012 City Council Meeting - Follow Up Report on Roadway Vegetation

At its July 17, 2012 meeting, the City Council will receive a follow-up report on the effectiveness of the Council approved Condition that increased the maximum height limit to 30-inches for any vegetation that grows along the median and parkway of Palos Verdes Drive South adjacent to the Terranea Resort.

Notice of Fireworks Display

The City Council of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes at its June 5, 2012 meeting approved a permit for a fireworks display to be held on June 24, 2012 off of Terranea Resort in conjunction with a wedding reception.

The fireworks display will last a maximum of 2 minutes between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. and will be launched from a barge a minimum of 1,000-feet off the coast from Terranea. The company conducting the display has submitted the required approvals from the United States Coast Guard, Los Angeles County Fire Department, and the Federal Aviation Administration. A Fire Safety Officer from the Fire Department will be on site during the fireworks display. All expenses associated with this display, including the cost of notification and the Fire Safety Officer, are being borne by the permittee.

Please note that animals can become startled by fireworks, so residents are encouraged to take any necessary precautions to ensure their animals' safety. Inquiries should be directed to Senior Analyst, Matt Waters, at 310-544-5218.

July 5, 2011 City Council Meeting

Conditional Use Permit No. 215 Revision "P" On July 5, 2011, the City Council will consider adopting a resolution amending the Conditional Use Permit to address the roadway and median vegetation discussed at its June 21, 2011 meeting.

June 21, 2011 City Council - Six Month Review of Conditions of Approval

On June 21, 2011, the City Council will conduct a review of the project's compliance with, and the adequacy of, the conditions of approval imposed by the City Council since it has been 6 months since the Final Certificate of Compliance was issued for the project. The Council's 6 month review is in accordance with Condition No. 16. The June 21 City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Hesse Park Community Room located at 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard, Rancho Palos Verdes.

Conditional Use Permit No. 215, ET. AL. Revision "O"

The applicant, Destination Development, for the Terranea Resort and Spa is requesting the City Council's consideration of Revision "O" to Conditional Use Permit No. 215, et. al. The applicant's request is to extend the condition compliance deadline date from April 9, 2010 to June 21, 2010. The City Council is scheduled to consider the applicant's request at its Tuesday, April 6, 2010 meeting at Hesse Park Community Building. However, Staff is recommending that this item be continued to the April 20 City Council meeting to allow additional time to determine condition compliance.

Conditional Use Permit No. 215, ET. AL. Revision "N"

The applicant, Destination Development, for the Terranea Resort and Spa is requesting the City Council's consideration of Revision "N" to Conditional Use Permit No. 215, et. al. The applicant's request is to extend the condition compliance deadline date from January 4, 2010 to April 9, 2010. The City Council is scheduled to consider the applicant's request at its Tuesday, January 19, 2010 meeting at Hesse Park Community Building.

Terranea Opens for Business

The Terranea Resort and Spa opened for business on Friday, June 12, 2009. Included in the opening are the hotel room accommodations, banquet and conference facilities, restaurants and the spa and fitness center, and the 9-hole golf course. Additionally, the City Council approved public amenities are now available for use.

The public amenities include 2 free public parking lots (the Fishing Access parking lot and the on-site Coastal Access parking lot), public trails including coastal access trails, overlooks, a sandy beach (chaise lounge chairs, umbrellas and cabanas are available for non-hotel guests for a fee), a public snack shop located on the coastal access trail, public restrooms (including an outdoor shower for beach goers), drinking fountains, interpretative signs along the public trails, bicycle racks, picnic tables, benches, and viewing stations (.25 fee that goes to non-profit organizations associated with improving water quality and marine ecology).

Unless otherwise noted, the public amenities listed above are available for free during city park hours (1 hour before sunrise to 1 hour after sunset).

Proposed TOT Rebate & Future Resident Rates Abandoned

On July 7, 2009, the City Council approved a Hotel Incentive Program Ordinance No. 490. Subject to certain conditions contained in the Ordinance No. 490 and a related Covenant Agreement (the "Agreement"), the Ordinance would have enabled the Terranea Resort to apply for participation in the Hotel Incentive Program (the "Program").

Terranea did not enroll in the Incentive Program to receive a rebate from the City of the TOT collected from the Resort. Had Terranea enrolled in the Program, it would have provided certain discounts to residents of the city in exchange for TOT rebates. The City Council elected to rescind the Hotel Incentive Program, including the TOT rebates and resident discounts, by enacting Ordinance No. 497 on September 1, 2009.

Additional information can be found as follows:

Links to the staff reports, PowerPoint files presented to the City Council and the archived video stream of the City Council review of this matter can be found via the agenda for the following meetings of the City Council:

Additional Background About the Project

On April 26, 2000, Destination Resorts International submitted the initial applications for development of a hotel and golf course resort that encompassed the Long Point property (the former Marineland property at 6610 PVDS) and the city’s Upper Pt. Vicente property. After a Draft EIR was prepared and circulated to the public, public hearings on the merits of the project applications by the Planning Commission began on April 10, 2001 and concluded on October 9, 2001. The Planning Commission forwarded a recommendation to the City Council for approval of 5 golf holes and an 8.2-acre passive / active recreational area on the city’s Upper Pt. Vicente property and 4 golf holes, a golf practice facility and resort hotel on the Long Point site.

Aerial View of the Terranea Hotel Resort and Spa

On October 16, 2001, the City Council voted unanimously to deny the use of the city's Pt. Vicente property for the proposed project. At the applicant's request, on November 7, 2001, the City Council agreed to place the public hearings on hold until May 7, 2002 to allow the applicant time to consider their options.

On April 22, 2002, the developer formally submitted a revised project to the Planning Department for consideration. The revised project no longer included the Upper Point Vicente property and was modified to a resort hotel with a golf academy and driving range amenity. On May 7, 2002, the City Council held a joint meeting with the Planning Commission and Finance Advisory Committee, during which the Developer presented the revised project site plan for the Resort.

At that time, the Council unanimously agreed to keep the discussion of the proposed project applications at the Council level, rather than remanding the project back to the Planning Commission or Finance Advisory Committee and certified the project EIR. As such, the City Council conducted public hearings on the revised project on June 18, July 16, August 6, and August 28, 2002. Concurrently, the Planning Commission considered the applicant's request for a Variance to allow the construction of a hotel swimming pool and public beach facility in the city's Coastal Setback Zone at its July 23, 2002 meeting and recommended approval of said lower pool facility.

On August 28, 2002, the City Council approved the following project, with 205 conditions of approval:

  • 2 single keyed villa units
  • 50 casitas (a maximum of 3 keys per unit)
  • A 400-room resort hotel (bungalows included) with a golf academy/practice facility (3 golf holes)
  • Conference center, golf club house, a spa, related commercial uses, restaurants, public trails and park areas, coastal access points, 100 public parking spaces, natural open space and habitat areas.

The City Council's decision was appealed to the California Coastal Commission and the appeal hearing occurred on June 11, 2003. The Coastal Commission denied the appeal, thereby approving the project with special conditions, essentially approving the same project approved by the City Council. Formal adoption of the conditions of approval by the Coastal Commission occurred on August 7, 2003. On October 7, 2003, the City Council formally accepted the modifications made by the Coastal Commission and the additional conditions of approval.

On May 17, 2005, the City Council approved a number of minor changes to the hotel design and layout determining that the changes were all in substantial conformance with the city's final 2003 approval. In addition, on March 21, 2006, the City Council approved a change to project's golf amenity, allowing a 9-hole short game golf course to replace a 3-hole practice facility. Furthermore, on December 5, 2006, the City Council approved minor modifications to grading, building ridgeline elevations, buildings and hotel operations and accepted an updated site plan and grading plan based on the revised project plans. View the Revised Site Plan (PDF). The California Coastal Commission has also approved all of these changes.

The demolition of the remaining buildings and infrastructure from the former Marineland development occurred in the Summer of 2006 and the complete clearing of the site began in February 2007. The grading permit was issued on May 31, 2007 and grading and construction of the site is currently underway. It is expected that the hotel will be open and operational by June 2009.

Related Documents

  1. Addendum to Certified EIR for the Long Point Project (dated June 11, 2002) (PDF)
  2. April 21, 2009 City Council Staff Report on CUP No. 215, Revision ‘K’ (PDF)
  3. August 18, 2009 City Council Staff Report on Conditional Use Permit No. 215 Revision “L” (PDF)
  4. August 4, 2009 City Council Staff Report on CUP 215 Revision L (PDF)
  5. City Approved Truck Haul Route (PDF)
  6. City Council Staff Report for CUP 215 Revision “C” (PDF)
  7. City Council Staff Report for CUP 215 Revision “D” (PDF)
  8. City Council Staff Report for CUP 215 Revision “E” (PDF)
  9. City Council Staff Report for CUP 215 Revision “F” (PDF)
  10. City Council Staff Report for CUP 215 Revision “G” (PDF)
  11. City Council Staff Report on CUP 215, et. al. Revision “A” (PDF)
  12. City Council Staff Report on CUP 215, et. al. Revision “B” (PDF)
  13. Conditional Use Permit No. 215 Revision ‘H’ City Council Staff Report (PDF)
  14. Conditional Use Permit No. 215 Revision “M” Public Notice (PDF)
  15. Construction Traffic Management Plan (PDF)
  16. Council adopted Conditions of Approval for CUP 215, et. al. on August 28, 2002 (PDF)
  17. Final Addendum to Certified EIR for the Long Poing Project (dated August 21, 2002) (PDF)
  18. June 12, 2009 Planning Commission Staff Report – Conditional Use Permit and Coastal Permit (PDF)
  19. Long Point Resort Project_ Draft Environmental Impact Report (PDF)
  20. May 12, 2009 Planning Commission Public Notice for Cellular Facilities (PDF)
  21. May 26, 2009 City Council Staff Report – Request for Financial Assistance (PDF)
  22. May 4, 2009 City Council Staff Report – CUP 215 Revision ‘K’, et. al (PDF)
  23. May 4, 2009 City Council Staff Report – Request for Financial Assistance (PDF)
  24. November 18, 2008 City Council Staff Report on CUP 215, et. al Revision J (PDF)
  25. October 7, 2008 City Council Staff Report for CUP 215 Revision "I" (PDF)
  26. Proposed Flag Pole Project Plans (CUP 215 Revision “K,” et. al) (PDF)
  27. Proposed Illustrative Site Plan on CUP No. 215 Revisions (PDF)
  28. Temporary Beach Access Parking Lot and Trail Plan (PDF)
  29. Terranea (Long Point) Resort City Conditions of Approval (PDF)