MARIGAYLE CIRCLE Residents on Marigayle Circle near...

MARIGAYLE CIRCLE

Residents on Marigayle Circle near Edwards Street and Ellis Avenue

asked the Huntington Beach City Council to reconsider a recent denial

of their request to amend a building permit and allow them to expand

their rear yards.

City Councilman Dave Sullivan helped reintroduce the ordinance,

arguing that he wouldn’t have voted against the project if he had

visited the site beforehand. Debbie Cook was the lone vote against

allowing the modification, arguing that the homeowners should have

already known the rules when they bought the property.

WHAT IT MEANS

The City Council approval of the project now means that the four

homeowners at the end of the street can expand their rear yards by

ranges from 12 to 30 feet using a combination of grading, infill and

the construction of a 5-foot high retaining wall topped with a 1-foot

block wall and 2 feet of cast iron.

PARKING AT

CENTRAL PARK

The council passed an ordinance by Councilmen Gil Coerper and Dave

Sullivan considering whether to temporarily open a 6-foot-tall

emergency access gate between the Sports Complex and the library.

The fence was ordered by the council in June 2003 as a way to

ensure that users of the Sports Complex would pay a $1 all-day

parking fee and not use the free parking at the nearby library.

The request was been made by Sports Complex concession operator

Sandy Amersfoorth to open the gate on weekends for a trial period of

one month. Amersfoorth believes opening the gate will increase her

volume of business.

Mayor Jill Hardy voted against the proposal.

WHAT TO EXPECT

City officials will be charged with closely monitoring how the

loss in revenue effects the Sports Complex. The pilot program will

run for 60 days.

GIFT LIMITATION BAN

Councilwoman Debbie Cook introduced a resolution asking the

council to further amend the city’s gift ban ordinance to bring it

into full compliance with state law. Mayor Jill Hardy did not vote on

the ordinance.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Changing the law will create a single set of standards for city

employees and elected officials, who will now simply be instructed to

follow state law.