The staff of the California Coastal Commission is recommending that commissioners overturn an Oxnard City Council decision and approve a proposed power plant at Mandalay Beach.

The City Council and Oxnard Planning Commission erred last year when they denied Southern California Edison's proposed $50 million "peaker" plant, which would operate during peak demand times for power, according to a staff report released Friday.

Edison wants to build a 45-megawatt, natural-gas-fired plant on a parcel south of Reliant Energy's 430-megawatt plant on Harbor Boulevard. It would sit across the street from the Northshore housing project, where developers are building 290 homes.

At a meeting last week, City Council members repeated their opposition to the plant, saying they might write a letter and send staff members to the commission meeting at 8 a.m. on May 8 in Marina del Rey, where the matter will be heard.

Edison is under a mandate by the California Public Utilities Commission to build five so-called peaker plants to meet rising consumer use and shore up the state's energy grid against blackouts. Peaker plants can start producing power within 10 minutes — as opposed to six hours for larger traditional plants — and can bridge gaps in electrical supply during natural disasters or during high-demand periods.

But Oxnard officials are opposed to adding another industrial facility to the beach.

When the council voted to deny Edison's application in June, City Councilman Tim Flynn referred to it as "a 20,000-pound gorilla dressed up in an evening gown."

Though the plant would generate about 51,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, Edison said it would reduce the total amount of greenhouse gases through an electrical system.

Resident Larry Godwin, who opposes the peaker plant, said not only should it not be built in the coastal zone but it also isn't needed.

The city's decision to reject the plant hinged on whether the facility was "coastal dependent."

The City Council, Planning Commission and city planners each determined that the peaker plant wasn't dependent on a coastal location, noting the plant did not need ocean water for cooling.

Edison appealed the decision to the coastal commission.

The commission staff argues that the city's interpretation of the zoning regulations is incorrect and that the rules do not "prohibit non-coastal dependent facilities."

Beyond that, the Coastal Zoning ordinance allows for "power generating facilities and electrical substations," according to the 67-page staff report. There are also specific exceptions that allow for power plants and make room for reasonable expansion of those facilities, the report adds.

Oxnard City Planner Chris Williamson, who was involved in reviewing the plant proposal, said the issue comes down to whether the commission follows a strict interpretation of the words in the zoning ordinance or the intent of those rules, which clearly would bar non-coastal dependent uses.

On the Web:

http://www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html