Fee Stalemate Causes Council to Delay Vote

Because of a stalemate between the city and the developer over future fees, the City Council on Monday night postponed for a week a vote on a development agreement for the 768-acre Holly-Seacliff area.

The proposed agreement would be between the city and the Huntington Beach Co.--the largest and most influential landowner in the city. The company wants the 15-year agreement to exclude Holly-Seacliff from any new fees on development that the city may enact in future years.

But City Administrator Michael T. Uberuaga urged the council to insist that the development be subject to any future fees.

“I am adamant on this,” Uberuaga said. “The city is not as financially sound as it should be. I would hate to see us preclude ourselves from new fees in the future.”

Huntington Beach Co. officials, however, said in a position paper that the city would be asking too much to expect the company to pay new fees in the future. The position paper said that the company has already “agreed to mitigation measures and the construction of public improvements well in excess of the project’s impact. We have also agreed to pay increases to all existing fees that may be adopted in the future as well as any and all new citywide taxes. The project . . . therefore should be exempted from any new fees programs.”

The proposed agreement would allow the Huntington Beach Co. to build 3,780 new homes in the Holly-Seacliff area, in addition to some commercial and industrial development. The agreement, in effect, would be a 15-year contract that would protect the company’s right to build on the land.

In return, the city would get increased park acreage donations, a new water reservoir, a police substation and a new fire station. The Huntington Beach Co. said it would give 41 acres of land to the county’s new Bolsa Chica Regional Linear Park and an additional 12 acres for new city neighborhood parks in the Holly-Seacliff area.

Several residents addressed the City Council on Monday night, urging the council members not to “rush” the agreement.

Shirley Dettloff, president of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a major environmental organization, said: “The agreement is being rushed . . . the public is being denied an opportunity to carefully review the Holly-Seacliff agreement.”

She urged the council to insist that the agreement include an additional six acres of parkland at Ellis Avenue and Edwards Street that would connect the Linear Park to the city’s Central Park.

HOLLY SEACLIFF

Here are some facts about the Holly-Seacliff area in Huntington Beach.

Size: 768 acres.

Location: Northwest Huntington Beach.

Description: Mostly vacant land; oil pumps formerly used in the area are being removed.

Principal owner: the Huntington Beach Co. owns 80% of the site.

Proposed development: Construction of more than 4,000 new homes; also construction of four neighborhood parks and a mix of shopping facilities and light industries.

Population: Planners forecast more than 10,000 new residents.

Source: City of Huntington Beach