CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

Here are a few items the council considered Monday:

ZONING AMENDMENTS

The new council adopted by a unanimous vote modifications to three sections of Huntington Beach zoning laws related to definitions of vehicle storage, activity and parking after approving the introduction of the ordinance at the Nov. 20 council meeting.

WHAT IT MEANS

The zoning regulations were modified to allow city staff to take prompt action when the rules are violated. A case in point would be when a parking structure owner would lease space to auto dealers to store new cars in the garage instead of their own dealership lots. Council members agreed to define storage activity and clarify terms of nonresidential parking and loading in the city to avoid such conflicts in future.

SHOPPING CARTS

Retrieving lost or stolen shopping carts will now be the responsibility of shop or business owners according to a new amendment to the city’s code that council members approved unanimously Monday. The council previously approved the amendment when it was introduced at the Nov. 20 meeting. A city ordinance requires two reading before it goes into effect.

WHAT IT MEANS

Under the new rule, businesses would have to retrieve shopping carts that are lost or stolen from their parking lots from neighboring streets or their premises, or pay for retrieval of lost, stolen or abandoned shopping carts. Abandoned shopping carts on city streets look unseemly, according to city officials who say the best way to prevent that practice is to get owners to be responsible for the carts. Other cities such as Anaheim and Buena Park have implemented similar policies to retrieve the carts.

STREET CLOSURE

Approved 7-0

The council unanimously approved closing parts of Pacific Coast Highway and local streets for the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, the Fourth of July celebrations and other special events in 2007.

WHAT IT MEANS

The city is looking to close some streets to allow hundreds of participants in the Huntington Beach Pacific Shoreline Marathon to begin running on the course that will start and end at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort. This vote will also pave the way to close Main Street to cars and trucks during special events as part of the pilot Main Street closure project.

— Compiled by

Purnima Mudnal