Residents plan development fight

Residents have banded together to fight a proposed housing project

near the Wintersburg Channel that they say will bring unwanted noise

and traffic.

Shea Homes has proposed a 171-home development on a vacant parcel

of land located on the west side of Graham Street south of Warner

Avenue near the Wintersburg Channel.

“We think that this piece of land could be put to much better

use,” said Mark Bixby, one of the residents leading the charge to

restore of the Wintersburg Wetlands. “We would like to see the land

purchased from Shea and be turned into a working wetlands.”

Along with traffic congestion, Bixby and members of the Neighbors

for Wintersburg Wetlands Restoration have other safety concerns as

well. The housing tract will only have one entrance and emergency

vehicles would need to have a key or know the combination to enter

the gated community, he said.

The project’s environmental report has undergone several revisions

since it started to take shape in 1997.

“[The environmental report] has never been discussed in public,”

Bixby said.

While the project has been in development for several years, it is

only now going before the Planning Commission, Bixby added.

Planning Commissioners are reviewing the project and responding to

comments from community members now, said Scott Heff, planning

manager for the city.

“We’re anticipating going to public hearing in September,” said

Mary Beth Broeren, principal planner for the City.

After it goes to the Planning Commission, the project will then go

before the City Council.

The project will also require certain approvals from the

California Coastal Commission.

Representatives at Shea Home’s office in Brea could not be reached

for comment.

-- Jose Paul Corona

Residents vow to fight planes towing banners

Irate residents have implored the City Council to bar

banner-towing planes from making summertime sweeps over the city.

In response to several resident’s complaints that the planes are

noisy and disruptive, Councilwoman Connie Boardman submitted a draft

of a proposed ordinance that would prohibit the planes from flying

over the city to her colleagues Monday night. The council gave its

initial approval to the plan with a 6-1 vote. Councilman Ralph Bauer

cast the sole dissenting vote.

“This is just not a burning issue in Huntington Beach,” Bauer

contended.

Fellow council members vehemently disagreed. Councilwoman Pam

Julien Houchen was particularly disgusted by an ad she saw flying

over Pier Plaza while Downtown with her triplets. The ad depicted an

aborted fetus, she said.

“I think they went one step to far,” she said. “We need to clean

up our air space.”

Until recently there was not a lot city leaders could do to

control aircraft flying over the city. But in January, Judge Helen

Gillmor of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco

upheld a Honolulu ordinance that gave cities the right to regulate

aerial advertising. Boardman cited this ruling at Monday’s meeting

and suggested Huntington Beach rid the city’s skyline of these ads.

The ordinance Boardman proposed was based on the one drawn up in

Honolulu.

Bauer’s main concern was the use of police department resources.

Rather the patrolling the city, the police helicopter would have

to follow banner towing planes to the airport to write citations when

they landed, he said. The city would then need two police helicopters

in the air instead of one.

“Following planes is not as important as catching bad guys,”

Bauer declared.

A police helicopter would not be required to fly to an airport to

meet the banner towing plane as it landed, said Police Chief Ron

Lowenberg, but an officer would have to give the pilot a citation in

person, so a police cruiser would be sent to the airport.

Long Beach and Chino airports are where most of the banner-towing

planes fly out of, he said.

The draft ordinance will be submitted to the city attorney for

review and brought back before the council at the end of the month.

-- Jose Paul Corona

Lennar offers helping hand with housing

The people who will live in the new homes at Mystic and Nautical

Pointe in Huntington Beach know how fortunate they are. After all,

not everyone can afford to buy a home in one of the two new housing

tracts.

While affordable housing and helping the homeless may not have

been a top priority when deciding to buy their homes, the new

homeowners have already lent a helping hand.

For each home purchased in the two neighborhoods, developer Lennar

Homes has agreed to give 1/20 of 1% of the sale price to Habitat for

Humanity Orange County and HomeAid Orange County.

Both charities help people in need of housing. Habitat for

Humanity is a nonprofit organization that builds homes for those in

need and HomeAid Orange County provides temporary shelter for those

who find themselves without a home due to unforeseen circumstances

such as a job loss or devastating family illness.

The Lennar Charitable Housing Foundation was established by Lennar

Homes with the specific purpose of helping those who don’t have homes

of their own.

“It’s great to be able to do the right thing for all the right

reasons,” said Jon Jaffe, vice president of the Lennar Corp.

-- Jose Paul Corona