Lawsuit filed to stop Pacific City

Two Surf City environmentalists have filed a lawsuit against the city

and the California Coastal Commission in an effort to stop

development of the 31-acre Pacific City project.

Mark Bixby and Jan Vandersloot allege in the suit that the Coastal

Commission violated the California Coastal Act when it refused to

grant the two an appeal hearing. The commission, in a preliminary

hearing, found there was no grounds for an appeal hearing, Bixby

said.

The suit claims the city violated the Coastal Act by approving the

project.

Bixby, a local government watchdog, also claims that Surf City

officials misrepresented to the Coastal Commission the evidence he

provided that the project encroached on the beach and was home to

environmentally protected vegetation.

City Atty. Jennifer McGrath was not available for comment.

Bixby and Vandersloot plan to fund the effort themselves, but hope

others will eventually get involved.

“Lawsuits aren’t cheap, but we feel strong about our positions,”

he said. Bixby said his goal was not to get the project overturned

inasmuch as simply getting a fair chance to appeal the project before

the Coastal Commission.

Makar properties is the developer of Pacific City, a mixed-use

residential and commercial project planned for the south side of

Downtown Huntington Beach. Makar was not named in the lawsuit.

The environmentalist’s lawyers, Tom Lippe and Steve Velyves, of

Northern California, have filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior

Court -- the same city where the Coastal Commission is based.

Planning Commission to lose three members

The Planning Commission lost three of its seven members last week.

Commissioners Ron Davis and Kristin Stilton resigned their posts.

Commissioner Carrie Thomas will leave Dec. 31 when she and Stilton

are set to be termed out. Stilton was appointed by former

Councilwoman Pam Julien Houchen, who resigned from the council in

October following allegations regarding her role in selling illegally

converted condos. Thomas was appointed by Councilwoman Connie

Boardman who did not run for reelection in November.

Davis, who cited personal reasons for leaving the Planning

Commission, would have continued to serve as Councilwoman Debbie

Cook’s appointee.

Davis said “he just wanted to do other things” and move on with

his life.

“I just decided that it had been a good two years, and I was very

honored that Debbie had appointed me,” said Davis, who took over the

seat after commissioner Jill Hardy was elected to the council in

2002.

He said he will best remember the times when the commission worked

collectively and said he didn’t have much advice for the new

commissioners that would be coming on board.

“I suspect like anybody, the Planning Commission and the new

appointees will have their own agendas,” he said.

Davis’ tenure with the commission had its tumultuous times. In

April, local gadfly Mark Bixby and several other activists called for

Davis’ resignation after he admitted to using a pseudonym to defend

himself on an e-mail forum called HB Talk.

“Clearly there’s been a lot of personality issues,” Bixby said.

“There’s been a lot of unnecessary ugliness.”

Huntington Beach celebrates Veterans Day

The city’s veteran community gathered with various local

government officials last week to honor those who had served in the

United States military.

The ceremony, traditionally held on the 11th hour of the 11th day

of the 11th month to commemorate the end of the first World War,

opened with a bagpipe presentation and closed with a three shot

salute.

The event was put together by local chapters of the American

Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Jewish War Veterans.

Mayor Cathy Green opened the ceremony, describing her upbringing

in a military family and her admiration for those in the service.

“It is really good to see that you are keeping the flame alive,”

she said. “I am proud to be mayor of this city where we don’t forget

the men and women who helped protect our freedom.”

Assemblyman Tom Harman spoke of his military service and

recognized the importance of the holiday.

“Veteran’s Day is one of the most important occasions we can

reflect on each year,” he said. “Though we often take our freedom for

granted, we all know that freedom isn’t free.”

Compromise reached on hillside developments

After months of debate, the City Council drafted a compromise to

deal with the expansion of hillside homes in Huntington Harbor.

Residents living opposite the hillsides properties complained that

expansions harm the character of the neighborhood and wanted the city

to ban development of such properties. Hillside homeowners argued

that regulation is a violation of their property rights.

The council decided to allow hillside homeowners to extend their

backyards to within 10 feet of their rear property lines with a

three-foot retaining wall and a five-foot view fence -- a fence made

of see-through material such as plexiglass or cast iron.

Neither group seemed overly enthusiastic about the compromise.

“Hopefully the character of the neighborhood can be maintained,”

said resident Randy Fuhrman who was pushing for restrictions on the

expansions.

Overall, the council’s proposal was something that he thought

everyone could live with, Fuhrman said.

“Both sides got something, and we hope we can get some sense of

stability that we didn’t have before,” he said.

Hillside homeowners like Darrach Taylor wanted no restrictions

that prevented him from development.

He called the compromise an “abuse of power and property rights”

and said “it’s not even close” to what he was hoping to see passed by

the council.

Upgraded council agendas online

The public can now download backup information for City Council

agendas from Huntington Beach’s website.

Meeting agendas have been available online for several years, but

the public can now access additional staff reports and diagrams using

the website’s new HTML format. The information files are hyperlinked

at the itemized agenda number and saved in PDF format. The files are

available to the public for free.

To access the agenda and backup materials, visit the city’s

website at https://www.surfcity-hb.org.