Talking on cellphones could cost you

Anyone caught talking on their cellphones or allowing them to ring in

any of Surf City’s libraries could be subject to a $100 fine.

The City Council on Monday passed the law, which is a compromise

with library director Ron Hayden, who recommended the council make it

a misdemeanor to use cellphones in libraries and punish violators

with a $500 fine and up to six months in jail.

Hayden said the stiff penalties would only be used to deal with

the most egregious offenders who refuse to comply with cell phone

rules at the request of library staff members.

The ordinance would be effective, he argued, because it would be

posted on signs and postcards given to violators as a way of

reminding them about cell phone rules. It will also allow police to

cite violators.

“Without this ordinance, the police can’t do anything,” Hayden

said, adding that similar punishments are on the books for crimes

like littering and that he thought “cellphones are more irritating.”

The council balked at the proposal, instead adopting an ordinance

that allowed punishment with an administrative citation for talking

on cellphones in nondesignated areas or having them emit amplified

sound. The fine for violating the ordinance would be $100.

Hayden now has the power to delegate authority to various library

staff members to issue citations.

The ordinance received mixed reviews from library patrons Tuesday.

Teri N-Gwarek said she thought that cell phone users should be

punished “if they persist, or act unconcerned about other people’s

comfort zones.”

Tom Didie disagreed, arguing that the manners should not be

legislated.

“If they don’t behave right, they simply shouldn’t be welcome back

at the library,” he said.

But that isn’t always possible, Councilwoman Connie Boardman said.

“It’s nice to have a little hammer when the carrot doesn’t work,”

she said.

City streets becoming trailer parks

The Police Department is asking the City Council to help deal with

an over abundance of RV parking on city streets.

Chief Ken Small said some RV owners are using city streets to park

their trailers and boats for long-term storage, lowering Huntington

Beach’s own parking stock and blighting neighborhoods.

“I don’t think anybody can deny that we have a problem in

Huntington Beach with RV parking,” he said. “There isn’t a

residential neighborhood that isn’t affected.”

The Police Department gets five to 10 complaints per day about RV

parking, he said.

Current law allows residents with RVs under 25 feet to park on

city streets for up to 72 hours, while those over 25 feet are allowed

to park for just 24 hours.

Small is recommending that the city require RV owners to purchase

a permit from the Police Department that will be good for 48 hours if

they want to park on the street. Residents would be allowed to

purchase up to four permits a month.

The new ordinance would also fix a loophole in the current

ordinance that allows RV owners to move their vehicles, sometimes

just a few feet, to avoid staying in one spot over their allotted

time period.

“Many move from neighborhood to neighborhood, street to street to

avoid our ordinance,” he said.

The new recommended ordinance would hold permitted parkers within

a 2/10-of-a-mile radius.

A community meeting will be held on Sept. 21 to collect public

comment on the ordinance. A final draft will be completed by the

Police Department and the City Attorney’s office and submitted for

approval sometime in the fall.

City chips in to aid social several services

The City Council hopes to use $22,500 from the General Fund to

offset a federal-grant shortfall.

The council on Monday approved an action plan for how to use $1.6

million in federal funds and subsidize several disparities in funding

with city money.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded

Huntington Beach an annual block grant for a series of projects

including the Fair Housing Council, loan payments for the city gym

and pool, and ramp construction that meets requirements of the

Americans with Disabilities Act. Funding will also be used for

improvements to the Oak View Community Center and Library.

A portion of the money is allocated to social services, but city

staff members and a citizen allocation committee couldn’t come to an

agreement on how the money should be spent , with slight

disagreements on several line items that could affect the overall

budget of various social services.

“This seems to happen every year,” Councilwoman Debbie Cook said.

Economic Development Director David Biggs said the grant should be

used to continually fund city programs, but several citizen groups

argued that there were other programs that merited funding.

To deal with the shortfall, the council instructed City

Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft to find $22,500 in the General

Fund to finance Project Self-Sufficiency, a college program for

single mothers. Federal funding for that program could then be

diverted into other programs.

“It’s not a huge amount of money, but it does have to be taken

from somewhere else,” Biggs said.

The rest of the funding, about $12,500, will be provided from a

grant by Wells Fargo.

Replacement Planning Commissioner appointed

Councilwoman Pam Julien Houchen has appointed marketing specialist

Kristin Stilton to the Planning Commission. Stilton will be replacing

commissioner Jan Shomaker, who stepped down from office after it was

discovered that her firm, Pier Realty, was involved in the sale of

apartments that had been converted into condominiums without the

proper permits. Houchen’s involvement in the conversions is also

being investigated.

Stilton said she had no opinion about the investigation. She is a

15-year resident of Huntington Beach and serves as a member of the

city’s Design Review Board. Stilton’s tenure on the commission will

be short since Houchen’s term is set to end this year.

Describing herself as politically neutral, Stilton said she has no

set agenda for the Commission and plans to look at issues on a

case-by-case basis.

“I’m not out to save the squirrels, and I’m not trying to turn

this place into Disneyland,” she said.

The new commissioner is a graduate of UC Davis with a bachelor’s

degree in landscape architecture.