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.
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