After decades of enduring a sewer treatment plant on its public beach, Pacifica is going to tear down the aging facility as part of its plan to revive the community's commercial core and lure visitors to its expansive oceanfront. The city today announced an agreement with the California Center for Land Recycling, a nonprofit land conservation organization, to help select the best use of the site.

City officials said they are seeking a project that spurs needed economic benefits, tax revenues and recreational opportunities while capitalizing on Pacifica's natural beauty and access to the adjacent landmark fishing pier. Some have suggested that the sewer plant plumbing, with its large tanks and an outfall line connected to the ocean, would be ideal place for an aquarium or marine research facility. Other less fanciful but, perhaps, more practical proposals being considered by the city and a citizen's committee include a hotel, police station or a retail-residential complex.

"It's a great opportunity for Pacifica, and we are considering a number of intriguing ideas," said Mayor Maxine Gonsalves.

The sewer plant is an eyesore that has deterred both development and use of the beach and surrounding area. Unpleasant odors frequently emanate from the plant, and there have been a number of incidents of faulty operation that caused discharges of untreated water into the ocean. It will be shut down in 1999, except for a pump station, with the completion of a new wastewater treatment plant at another location. The Pacifica-CCLR partnership seeks to find a profitable reuse for the 3-acre site. CCLR is assisting the City of Pacifica in conducting development and market analyses, giving technical assistance and acting as contract administrator for technical consultants.

"Pacifica is located in a wonderful area, but development is passing them by," said CCLR executive director George Brewster. We're going to help them turn a problem into an asset."

CCLR is assisting Pacifica to fund and direct needed technical and marketing studies because the city lacks an adequate commercial tax base to pay for these pre-development services. CCLR acts as an intermediary to public agencies, developers and community organizations seeking to reuse former industrial sites. Working in the public interest, CCLR provides practical assistance linking clients to firms that provide the marketing, financial and technical services needed to develop these problem properties.