CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

WHAT HAPPENED:

The Huntington Beach City Council approved the temporary closure of a

portion of Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Sun., Jan. 27 to

make room for the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, and also voted to allow a

beer garden as part of the run expo.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Pacific Coast Highway between Beach Boulevard and Warner Avenue will

be closed on to make room for the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, which will

take place from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event includes a marathon,

half-marathon, 5K run and a children’s run. It attracts more than 5,000

runners from more than 300 California cities.

The beer garden will be a fenced-in area in the Pier Plaza parking lot

with one entrance and exit point. Alcohol will be served from 10 a.m. to

2 p.m. and all alcoholic beverages will be required to stay inside the

designated area.

The Huntington Beach Police Department is opposed to the garden.

Police Chief Ronald Lowenberg expressed his concern that allowing a beer

garden at this event may set a precedent for other groups to ask for a

beer garden in the future.

Vote: 5-2

IN FAVOR / AGAINST

WHAT HAPPENED:

The City Council approved an affordable housing covenant for a

six-unit condominium project at 17201 Ash St. in Huntington Beach.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The agreement ensures that all six, two-bedroom units in the project

will be affordable for median-income households for 60 years.

Westgate Homes, Ash Street, LLC. is the developer and initially

designed the property for apartments, but decided to sell the units as

condominiums before construction was completed.

Vote: 7-0

IN FAVOR / AGAINST

WHAT HAPPENED:

Representatives from the Huntington Beach Art Center Foundation

presented a check to Mayor Debbie Cook and the City Council to support

the Art Center Fund.

Gerald Chapman and Diana Casey, co-chairs on the foundation’s board of

directors, presented the check of $38,500 at Monday night’s City Council

meeting.

WHAT HAPPENED:

Representatives from 12 Huntington Beach schools were in attendance at

Monday night’s City Council meeting to accept a portion of the $15,100

raised by the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee from its three

yearly fund-raisers. The Cruise of Lights, which runs through Saturday,

is one of the fund-raisers.

The money each school receives will go to the school’s music programs.

Schools receiving money include: Dwyer Middle School, Harbour View

School, Hebrew Academy, Hope View School, Huntington Beach High School,

Marina High School, Marine View Middle School, Mesa View Middle School,

St. Bonaventure, Agnes L. Smith School, Village View School and Seacliff

School.

WHAT HAPPENED:

After lengthy discussion between council members, Mayor Debbie Cook

appointed herself as council liaison to the Orange County Sanitation

District, ending council member Peter Green’s 16 years of service with

the district. Green was the district’s vice chairman before Monday

night’s action.

Green had made a recommendation for the City Council to reappoint him

to the position, but council members felt differently.

“I have enormous respect for Peter [Green] and he has done an

outstanding job, but I was unsure on whether to go forward with it based

on his uncertainty with the waiver issue,” said Councilwoman Shirley

Dettloff.

The sanitation district’s waiver from federal law allows it to pump

partially treated sewage 4 1/2 miles off the city’s shoreline.

The City Council voted in September to oppose the waiver, which

expires at the start of 2003.

Green has said he is reluctant to take a firm stance until he gets

more information from the recently completed $5.1-million study of

coastal California waters to determine if the partially treated sewage

the sanitation district dumps off the coast is a cause of contamination.

He said the results should be ready by next spring.

Environmentalist and co-founder and board member of the Bolsa Chica

Land Trust Jan Vandersloot said the council needed to support getting rid

of the waiver now.

Green questioned the political process undertaken Monday night.

“I feel the mayor has the authority to appoint and the council

ratifies, but I’m not so sure that was done in this case,” Green said.

Council members made the argument that the mayor’s vote counts just as

much as a council member’s.

“I respect the job Peter Green has done, I respect him to question my

appointment, and I look forward to doing a fine job,” Cook said.

Some council members also felt it was time for someone new to get

experience working with organizations like the sanitation district since

four council member’s terms expire next year.

“It’s important for newer council members to get experience on these

commissions,” said council woman Connie Boardman.

WHAT HAPPENED

Council unanimously approved Sunrise Development Inc.’s plans to

re-designate 4.82 acres of property from residential medium density to

public on the city’s general plan land use map and to rezone the property

from residential, medium density overlay to public semipublic on the

city’s zoning maps.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The amendments permit a 97-unit, 126-maximum bed assisted living

facility to be built at 2134 Main St.

The property has 134 trees, 25 of which will have to be removed

because of construction, but they will be replaced on site, said city

planner Wayne Carvalho.

The Planning Commission certified the environmental report in June

2000 for PLC Land Co. to subdivide the 4.82 acre parcel for construction

of 17 two-story single family residences. But the project was denied

because of inconsistencies with the goals of the city’s general plan,

including extensive grading of the site.

Sunrise Development submitted its proposal to develop an

assisted-living facility on the site last May and the Planning Commission

held a public hearing Nov. 13 to receive public input, and recommended

approval of the project.

NEXT MEETING

When: Monday Jan. 7, 5 p.m.

Where: Council Chambers, 2000 Main St.