CHUCK BEAUREGARD -- Community Commentary

I’m sending you this letter not as the chairman of Save Our Kids, but as

a citizen of Huntington Beach.

In March, we will be asked to vote on the rezoning of Crest View back to

residential, Measure I. On the surface it seems straightforward. But as

usual, it isn’t.

The Crest View school site has had limited use by youth sports over the

years. As open space goes, it is in horrible shape. But this isn’t about

open space. This is about the space filled with homes or commercial

property.

Zone it residential, and the school district will sell the land to a

developer. The developer will build 75 to 80 homes, and the land is gone

-- onetime revenue to the school district and the city.

Zone it commercial, and the land is developed with a revenue stream of

[up] to $800,000 a year to the school district and the city for 65 years.

That amounts to more than $52 million, and the school district still owns

the land -- dollars that can and would be spent repairing existing school

sites instead of asking us for a bond like the high school district.

Tax-saving.

The city has also pledged to use the revenue to help fund the completion

of a youth sport complex in Central Park and the pools at Ocean View and

Huntington Beach high schools.

Let see. Zone commercial, and the city gets facilities that improve the

quality of life in the city (Youth sport complex and aquatic facilities)

and the value of each and every home in town. Zone residential, and the

city gets more homes, greater demand for existing limited recreational

resources, and no funds to improve the situation.

The choice is clear. Vote no Measure I.

* CHUCK BEAUREGARD is chairman of Save Our Kids and a Huntington Beach

resident.