Protect HB sues Huntington Beach over Symphony of Flowers

Local grassroots organization Protect Huntington Beach has sued the city over the approval of an extravagant, months-long multimedia light show in Central Park.

A petition for writ of mandate filed Thursday in Orange County Superior Court alleges the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act when it approved a license for Flowers of the Sky, LLC to operate the Symphony of Flowers.

The show would be on more than six acres of land in the northeastern corner of Central Park East, on Thursdays through Sundays for about six months of the year. It would be expected to draw 900 visitors per show, though up to 2,000 could be accommodated in the bleachers.

Huntington Beach would be guaranteed to receive at least $150,000 a year from the operator over a three-year period.

The Protect HB suit notes the project relies on a master environmental impact report for Central Park from 1999. The City Council unanimously approved it on an addendum to that report in February.

However, a letter to the city from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, sent March 7, raises questions over whether that addendum is sufficient and disputes its findings that the Symphony of Flowers would have either no impact or a less than significant impact in several environmental areas.

For example, the letter states the Department of Fish and Wildlife disagrees that lighting generated from the project will be insignificant, since the addendum doesn’t conduct a quantitative lighting analysis to support that determination.

“The addendum states that lighting will be directed away from sensitive habitat, but does not incorporate a study of illumination levels, light spill or spectral composition,” reads the letter, signed by Victoria Tang, environmental program manager of the South Coast Region.

The letter also expresses concerns about several birds that could be impacted, including the light-footed Ridgway’s rail, bald eagle and least Bell’s vireo, as well as the Monarch butterfly.

Protect HB co-founder Cathey Ryder said Thursday it was not her intent to be engaged in litigation against the city, but many residents have reached out asking how they could stop the light show or make changes.

“When you finally hear from enough citizens, we felt like this was just an action we had to take,” Ryder said. “It’s not that I’m opposed to them looking for ways to raise funds, but this is not a good use of our park land ... If they don’t want to listen to us, then this is how we get their attention, I guess.”

Huntington Beach Deputy City Manager Jennifer Carey said the city had not received the lawsuit as of Thursday afternoon. Mayor Pat Burns, reached via phone, declined to comment until he was more familiar with the lawsuit’s contents.

Ryder said the council ignored a public outcry and did not take steps like offering town hall meetings to discuss the light show.

“Our main claim is that they violated CEQA, and that became obvious to us when we saw that letter from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife,” Ryder said. “If this is something they’re determined to have, let’s pick another location or truly make sure that they can mitigate all of the things that need to be mitigated.”

Protect HB member Gina Clayton-Tarvin, the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees clerk, said she successfully sued the city twice in the past as board president over CEQA issues.

“This should have been a full blown, brand new EIR,” she said. “When you look at the impacts [the show] could have on the bald eagle, specifically, it’s very, very concerning.”