Pierside Village

The proposed Pierside Village that the Huntington Beach City Council is trying to force on us oceanview lovers, beach lovers and surfers is a real shame.

First, it’s a shame because Pierside Village will block many views of the beach, the ocean, the beautiful sunsets, Catalina and the new pier that will be built soon. Pierside Village is planned to be 35 feet above PCH and will block the views from both sidewalks along PCH. It will block the view from our cars driving down PCH. It will block the views from the new buildings being built and planned on the inland side of PCH. It also will block the pristine views from 5th Street, 6th Street, 3rd Street, 2nd Street and Lake Street.

Second, it’s a shame because the City Council is pushing this project against public opinion and a vote of the people.

The City Council is going against the wishes of the founding fathers in 1932. The City Council back then sued the Huntington Beach company Standard Oil of California and the Pacific Electric Land Co. to assure continued public use of the land. The city won, and the land was dedicated for public use for “public recreational park and playground purposes.” If the City Council gets away with building this project, it will eliminate a lot of relatively cheap-priced parking for the surfers and beach lovers who normally use this property.

If Pierside Village gets a green light, then the city will build an ugly parking garage, but if we stop the city from building Pierside Village, then we can stop the parking garage. Thus, by stopping Pierside Village, we can set a precedent and eventually not have any buildings on the ocean side of PCH. Wouldn’t that be nice?

To help us set a precedent, we currently have the California State Lands Commission suing the city of Huntington Beach. The Lands Commission, though, needs a lot of public input from all of you out there who care and want to help.

Also in Huntington Beach, Save Our Parks is pushing a city charter admendment drive to take the power away from the City Council regarding parks and beaches (which don’t cover Pierside Village) and give that power back to us, the voters. The voters then decide what they want to do with their public lands. Most of the voters I’ve talked to don’t want any building on our world-class beaches and bluffs.

Huntington Beach is one of the last towns in California that hasn’t built on their oceanside of its main highway. Why start now? Santa Barbara didn’t, but look what happened to Long Beach.

DAVID BURRIS

Huntington Beach