Council approves PMA/ILWU dispatch hall at Surfside Drive after traffic, neighborhood conditions

The Port Hueneme City Council on June 1 unanimously approved a development and coastal permit (PHPD25‑2) allowing the Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 46 to relocate and redevelop a vacant 2.3‑acre site at 250 South Surfside Drive into a secured dispatch, administrative and training facility.

Associate Planner Jose Coyote described the project as a conversion and upgrade of existing buildings to provide a dispatch hall, PMA offices and a training center with 137 onsite parking spaces, enhanced perimeter landscaping and improved site security. The staff report recommended conditional approval and found the project categorically exempt as an infill Class 32 CEQA action.

“An existing operation is being relocated outside the port gate,” PMA representative Julian Luna said. “The operation takes place entirely indoors. Twice a day, workers arrive at the site, receive their assignments, and then they leave.” Luna and PMA counsel emphasized the investment and landscaping improvements the applicant intends to deliver.

Council members pressed staff and the applicant on neighbor compatibility measures: lighting will use glare shields and parking‑lot lighting is sited to minimize spillover; graffiti removal is required within five days; and the permit includes a parking management plan with monitoring and two years of post‑occupancy checks. Staff said a traffic and parking monitoring program will begin six months after final occupancy and continue for two years; condition 39 triggers a mandatory operational review if the city receives three verified complaints within a rolling 12‑month period.

Some adjacent residents expressed concern about traffic and potential visibility of training containers; others — including ILWU Local 46 leaders, longtime port workers and the Port director — urged approval, citing jobs, security and removal of a long‑standing eyesore. ILWU Local 46 President Armando Mendes told the council the dispatch hall is “the heart of our workforce” and urged the council to approve the relocation.

After hearing questions and public comment, the council adopted the resolution approving permit PHPD25‑2, finding the project to be categorically exempt from CEQA and directing staff to file the required coastal notice.

What to watch: staff will carry out post‑occupancy parking and traffic monitoring and has enforcement authority under the permit conditions (including operational review triggers) if neighborhood impacts arise.