Planning the cities of the future

Bryce Alderton

Huntington Beach heads into the 21st Century with a new attitude and

new designs that will set the precedent for how structures are built and

what they look like.

The city’s Planning Department will receive an Award of Excellence for

Planning Implementation/Large Jurisdiction next month at the 2001

California Chapter of the American Planning Assn.’s Awards of Excellence

ceremony held in Sacramento.

Huntington Beach Planning Director Howard Zelefsky said the city

deserves and expects “high-quality design.”

“[High-quality design] helps development and tourism,” Zelefsky said.

Zelefsky has been with the planning department for 20 years and said

it’s the first time Huntington Beach has received a state award for

planning since he’s been with the city.

The city council adopted the urban design guidelines Sept. 5, 2000.

The urban design guidelines, prepared by the city’s planning department,

set specific criteria that the city will use in designing and building

all new structures.

The guidelines focus on residential, commercial, and industrial areas.

Included within these areas are Downtown/Main Street, office

buildings, service stations and car washes, hotels, drive-through and

drive-in businesses, sign and public art, road medians, wall designs and

street furniture.

“We’re going to try to get art in public places that we never used to

get, and look at such things as landscaping in parking lots, which is

important,” Zelefsky said.

Some examples of these guidelines will be decorative paving used at

driveway entries and pedestrian walkways, crosswalks in residential areas

and an emphasis on California and Mediterranean landscapes and gardens in

commercial areas.