Huntington Beach : Supporters Circulating Redevelopment Petitions

Petitions backing redevelopment are being circulated by members of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce in an effort to “reconfirm” support for the long-awaited renaissance of the downtown area.

The 1,000-business chamber, which for the past five years has backed the city’s plans for the 336-acre redevelopment area, is hoping to show the City Council “that there are many people that have been quiet to this point that support redevelopment,” Joyce Riddell, executive vice president of the chamber, said Wednesday.

“You always hear from people that are anti (development); the people that are for (development) sit back and never speak their support. And we feel that with the change of four new council members and a retiring city manager, it was important to reiterate our support that redevelopment progress,” Riddell said.

“We know we find ourselves in a situation where some changes in leadership have occurred and others will occur shortly,” Riddell wrote in an Oct. 1 letter to members.

“Just nine months ago we had a city election with four new council members elected, and just recently City Administrator Charles Thompson announced his retirement. We feel we have reached the point where we must speak out and reconfirm our support for downtown redevelopment to our city leaders,” her letter said.

In addition to reiterating the chamber’s support for redevelopment, the letter and petitions are designed as a counterattack to criticism by groups advocating controlled growth. The petitions were expected to be presented to the City Council in early November.