CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

WHAT HAPPENED:

The first block of Main Street will be closed three times this year

for special events after City Council’s unanimous approval.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Main street will be closed to all vehicular traffic, including

bicycles, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for the Wavecrest Beach Cruiser Meet

March 23, Halloween activities Oct. 31 and the Light a Light of Love

event Dec. 1.

City Council determined the closure is necessary for safety of persons

who might use the streets.

The California Department of Transportation requires a resolution

declaring the intention to close the first block of Main Street before

issuing a permit for the closure because Pacific Coast Highway is a state

highway with turn pockets onto Main Street.

Vote: 6-0-1 (Pam Julien Houchen absent)

WHAT HAPPENED:

City Council approved a standardized lease agreement prepared by city

staff to be used when negotiating leases for beach and park concessions.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Council directed staff to prepare a standardized lease agreement that

would treat all concessionaires equally and fairly.

The agreement requires concessionaires to pay the city the same

percentage rents and taxes, mandates the same insurance coverage and has

the same maintenance standards and financial bookkeeping.

But the agreement also gives staff the flexibility to negotiate

alternate business terms such as required deposits, maintenance

requirements, percentage rents and lease terms.

Currently there are seven beach and two park concessions with

additional concessions planned for the Huntington Beach Sports Complex

and the beach by the bluffs.

Vote: 6-0-1 (Houchen absent)

IN FAVOR / AGAINST

WHAT HAPPENED:

The Senate Rules Committee recently reappointed councilwoman Shirley

Dettloff to a term on the California Coastal Commission.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Dettloff is one of 12 voting members, appointed by either the Senate

Rules Committee, the Speaker of the Assembly or the Governor. She was

first appointed in February 1998.

The Commission is a state agency established by a voter initiative in

1972 and made permanent by the state legislature in 1976.

It is the lead agency for carrying out California’s federally-approved

coastal management program, and regulates land and water uses in the

coastal zone in accordance with the state coastal act.

WHAT THEY SAID:

“Huntington Beach is first in my heart and we can accomplish a great

deal. I look forward to a great year,” Dettloff said.

WHAT HAPPENED:

City Council approved the 11th annual review of the Holly Seacliff

Development Agreement.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The Holly Seacliff Development area comprises 490 acres between Ellis

Avenue to the north, Huntington Street on the east, Edwards Street on the

west and the Seacliff Golf Course on the south.

The development agreement requires the developer, PLC Land Company, to

dedicate more than 41 acres for the proposed Linear Park, construct

infrastructure improvements, arterial streets and landscape medians,

while dedicating 12 acres of local parks and contributing toward police

and fire department facilities and operating costs. In return the

agreement gives the developer the right to proceed with development in

compliance with land use rules for 15 years from Dec. 5, 1990.

The planning commission has determined that the developer is in

compliance with the agreement.

Through 2001, the planning department has issued building permits for

about 1,500 units in the Holly Seacliff Specific Plan area and for 109

units in The Hamptons project. These projects represent about 78% of the

total residential units anticipated to be built at the site according to

staff.

Vote: 6-0-1 (Houchen absent)

IN FAVOR / AGAINST

WHAT HAPPENED:

About 2.7 acres of property on the west side of Edwards Street will be

turned into eight lots to be used for single-family residential homes,

after the City Council approved a zoning text amendment to the Holly

Seacliff General Plan Amendment.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Council members expressed concerns with grading into areas of the

Bolsa Chica wetlands and into neighboring M. Wieder Regional Park, but

staff said that any future mitigation will not have any adverse

environmental impacts.

Mayor Debbie Cook did not vote to approve the project because the city

would have to pay for maintenance of surrounding streets. Cook felt with

existing infrastructure problems in the city, the responsibility for

additional streets should not be taken on.

The owner of oil wells in close proximity to the development site

wrote a letter to the city opposing the development. In it he said the

environmental impacts of constructing homes in close proximity to his oil

wells have not been considered.

City Council approved the Holly Seacliff General Plan Amendment in

1990 designating four units per acre on the property. But in April 2001,

the developer PLC Land Company filed a lawsuit against the city.

In response the city revised the proposal in September 2001 to include

eight lots that city staff said address its concerns with aesthetics and

view impacts to and from Wieder Park.

Lot sizes on the property range from 8,300-square-feet to

19,300-square-feet and there will be a 15-foot landscape easement along

Edwards Street compatible with the fire station and the bluffs. Grading

of up to 11 feet of soil at the northwest corner of the tract still needs

to be done.

About 4,300 cubic yards of soil will need to be trucked in for

drainage and sewer flow.

Any changes to the grading on the sloped landscaped areas require

Planning Director Howard Zelefsky’s approval.

Vote: 4-2

IN FAVOR / AGAINST

SOUNDING OFF

“It’s a great honor to be back on council for a brief time and a

pleasure to be back here working for the residents of Huntington Beach..”

-- Grace Winchell, on her appointment to the City Council.

NEXT MEETING

When: Feb. 19, 5 p.m.

Where: Room B-8, Civic Center, 2000 Main St.