Slope ordinance gets slippery

The Planning Commission on Tuesday directed staff to rewrite a zoning

ordinance that would make it difficult for property owners to expand

their backyards onto rear hillsides once used as neighborhood

easements.

Several weeks ago, residents living in Huntington Harbour asked

the commission to consider a ban on rear expansion of hillside,

double-fronted lots -- homes that are bordered in the front and rear

by nearly parallel streets. Residents like Randy Fuhrman and Carole

Garrett asked for an ordinance because they said they were tired of

property owners pushing their backyards onto rear hillsides and

constructing 14-foot retaining walls to hold the expansion in place.

An ordinance is needed to save the remaining patches of hillside,

they argued.

“Zoning is a restriction of personal property rights for the

benefit of the community,” Fuhrman said. “Somebody is going to get

restricted and the benefits often seem kind of nebulous.”

The pair’s homes face several concrete walls, blighting their

view, and changing the character of the neighborhood, Fuhrman said.

Instead of drafting a ban on such expansion, Commissioner Tom

Livengood recommended staff members draft a compromise bill, allowing

several smaller retaining walls spaced out along the hillside.

The Planning Department will be charged with drafting the

compromise, but City Planner Paul Da Veiga said staff members will

not recommend the commission pass it, because they feel the

ordinance in place is sufficient. The ordinance will be studied by

the Planning Commission again on Aug. 10 and then possibly approved

on Aug. 24. After that, it will go before the City Council for a

final vote.

Hillside homeowner Darrach Taylor, who opposes development

restrictions, said he was weary of any compromise.

“The commission thinks it has to come up with some alternative for

the City Council, and it seems like they’re being pressured from some

outside group,” Taylor said.

Fuhrman disagreed and characterized the compromise as an attempt

by the commissioner to appease the vocal homeowners opposed to the

amendment.

Water use during drought a concern to city officials

Water usage in Huntington Beach has increased dramatically, and

city officials are worried about its effect on local reserves.

Despite being the sixth year of extended drought, Orange County

water consumption continues to rise. Orange County water usage in May

saw the highest increase in the last 10 years, the Public Utilities

department reported.

The problem is particularly pronounced in Huntington Beach, where

water consumption for May was nearly 18% higher than last year, the

Public Utilities department reported. Water consumption for June was

an astounding 30.5% higher than last year.

Even with the growth in housing and population, water consumption

hadn’t changed in more than 15 years, said city utility division

manager Howard Johnson, who is still trying to determine the reason

for the increase.

“We’re struggling with that ourselves,” he said. “We’re seeing the

highest in residential uses, so that kind of takes out the argument

that the tourist industry might be causing the increase.”

To control this escalating water raise, residents are asked by the

Public Utilities Department to do their part to conserve, especially

when landscaping and irrigating home gardens. Johnson recommended

homeowners reevaluate their irrigation systems, consider watering

every three days and only water in the morning when temperatures are

lower. Homeowners are being asked to consider planting native plants

that require less water.

For more information, visit www.bewaterwise.com

Army Corps to dredge Santa Ana River

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Orange County Department of

Resources and Development Management plan to begin an intensive

dredging operation to remove sediment from the Santa Ana River before

control of the river is handed over to the County of Orange.

The project will go from the river mouth at the Pacific Ocean,

2,000 feet upstream of Adams Avenue. Engineers plan to excavate about

400,000 cubic yards of sediment to help restore the river’s soft

channel and design depth.

Most of the excavated sand will be moved to the West Newport Beach

shoreline and an offshore disposal area. About 25,000 cubic yards

will be placed on Least Tern Nesting Island. Workers will also

attempt to remove all vegetation from the island.

“The original dredging was done in 1994, and after it was

completed they moved on to other reaches of the river,” county

official Don Murphy said. “That design condition was no longer

available because so much sand had built up.”

Work on the project is expected to begin around Aug. 15 when the

least tern nesting season has ended. A bike trail on the east side of

the river will be closed until the project is completed in December.

Walk raises money for children of 9/11

Volunteers are organizing a 5K walk along Bolsa Chica State Beach

to raise money for the 9/11 Children’s Fund.

The scenic beach-walk route will be on Sept. 11 to commemorate the

victims who died in the terrorist attacks of that day.

Money raised in the event will go toward the 9/11 Children’s Fund,

which provides educational support to children from low-income

families that lost a parent on Sept. 11. Funds will also go to the

Afghanistan Relief Organization, Homes for Kids in South Africa and

arts group Be The Cause.

For more information or to register, call 714-636-3067 or e-mail

walk@bethecause.org.