Council approves Beach-Edinger corridor plan

The City Council approved a plan Monday to revitalize a portion of Beach Boulevard and Edinger Avenue and create town centers with mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly designs.

The Beach and Edinger Corridors Specific Plan includes a 459-acre area along Beach and Edinger and along Edinger to Goldenwest Street, excluding Bella Terra and Golden West College. The plan dictates land use and building intensity, guides building design and aesthetics and allows mixed-land use zoning.

The council approved the plan, 5 to 2, with Mayor Cathy Green and Mayor Pro Tem Jill Hardy voting against it.

The plan will be forwarded to the California Coastal Commission for approval.

More than 20 residents and business owners spoke during public comment on the plan.

Huntington Beach Tomorrow President Karen Jackle asked the council to look into the plan’s significant impacts on traffic and transportation, housing, recreation, and public safety.

“You would be doing the current and future citizens a disservice if you approved a statement of overriding considerations on this specific plan without taking actions to resolve these significant and unavoidable impacts,” Jackle said.

Other residents and business owners talked about the improvements the plan will make on the area. Huntington Beach native Shelly La Ruffa said the increased development will increase the city’s tax base by bringing in new businesses and urged the council to approve the plan.

The council modified the original plan to direct staff to look into expanding an existing transportation center into a 2.4-acre plot of land and an additional parcel into a future high-speed rail hook-up, trolley depot or something similar to expand an existing transportation center nearby.

The commission also approved building heights up to 14 feet within 500 feet of the freeway in the southeast corner of Beach and Edinger.

The move will create a kind of gateway to the city, Councilman Joe Carchio said.

Hardy said she wouldn’t support the maximum 14-story building height increase from the staff’s original recommendation of four stories, calling the existing 14-story building in the area an “eyesore.”

The specific plan was developed to improve the economic opportunities in the area by renovating the nondescript strip mall, creating uniform signage and establishing a consistent landscaping plan.

The new plan calls for retail, offices, restaurants and residential uses close together and promenades to make the area more pedestrian-friendly. The plan will also make the sidewalks appear larger, staff said.

“The purpose of this specific plan is to enhance the performance, functionality and beauty of the Beach and Edinger corridors” said Rosemary Medel, associate planner.

The plan allows the potential development of more than 700,000 square feet of commercial space, more than 100,000 square feet of office development and 350 hotel rooms.

The city has held a series of workshops and study sessions on the project.

The City Council also unanimously approved departmental cuts, including more than $1 million in the police department, which, when combined with union concessions, will fill a $4-million revenue shortfall.

The city departments submitted about $3.4 million in cuts, and the union contract changes saved the city another $1.4 million, said City Administrator Fred Wilson.

The police department will cut more than $1.2 million from its budget by leaving positions vacant and reducing helicopter air support.

The department is also cutting almost $40,000 from its budget by eliminating its Fourth of July weekend staff support services and ending its contract with private security services and California Highway Patrol to patrol the parade route and assist during the fireworks show. Additional fundraising will be needed to pay for help over the extended weekend.

The number of beach fire rings will be reduced by 50%, from 167 to 83, the Michael E. Rodgers Seniors’ Center will be closed Saturdays, and the Huntington Beach Central Library will be closed Sunday with additional closures at branch libraries.

Councilman Devin Dwyer also directed staff to look into how much money would be saved by cutting council meetings to once a month and taking Planning Commission meetings off Channel 3 and webcasting them instead.