Consultants give Beach, Edinger recommendations

The City Council had a special meeting Thursday to discuss recommendations for the future of Beach Boulevard and Edinger Avenue. There was no vote at the informal discussion.

Following a year of public meetings, hired consultants gave their recommendations for the future of the major city arteries: Turn Beach Boulevard from a long strip of retail to a series of high-profile, walkable shopping districts at major intersections, filled in with luxury apartments between; beautify both streets with lines of trees and frontage roads; and encourage developers to build over an excess of parking spaces.

The city can’t do these things directly, but it would encourage such a change over decades with its upcoming Beach/Edinger Specific Plan, a blueprint for future development that offers incentives to certain kinds of building.

The plan still needs to be reviewed by zoning officials and the City Planning Commission before the City Council has the chance to vote on it.

— Michael Alexander