HUNTINGTON BEACH : Planners Urging Pierside Cutback

City planners are urging the Planning Commission to scale back a portion of the controversial Pierside Village proposal, which commissioners are scheduled to consider at a special meeting tonight after a series of delays.

The planning staff is recommending that the commission eliminate 6,250 square feet of shops included in the developer’s proposed restaurant complex.

Jonathan Chodos, builder of the downtown redevelopment project, says the retail space is necessary to make the complex financially viable.

But in a staff report, city planning officials maintain that the shops are “not necessary to serve the beach-going public.”

The City Council has tentatively scheduled a Nov. 5 meeting to consider giving final approval to the project, which has sharply divided council members and planning commissioners.

Pierside Village is a proposed complex of as many as five restaurants to be built on bluffs next to the Municipal Pier at Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway. The land is now paved for street-level beach parking.

Critics argue that the project would block ocean views and ruin the beach’s natural atmosphere, while supporters contend that it would attract more visitors who, because of the project’s plazas and promenades, would also have a chance to see the ocean.

In addition to the retail-space issue, commissioners said they have concerns about other details of the project, including the adequacy of parking facilities and a potential state Lands Commission lawsuit to bar the development.

However, commissioners interviewed Monday said they believe the proposal will be approved, although slightly modified.

Project critics have charged that Chodos and council proponents have pressured commissioners to quickly approve the proposal so that the council could vote on it before the Nov. 6 election. Voters will elect at least three new council members and decide whether to approve two ballot measures, including a limited-growth initiative that would likely block Pierside Village if it has not yet been approved.

“If anything, if I were the developer, I’d say this has been the biggest stall I’ve seen in years,” said Commissioner Ken Bourguignon, referring to the commission’s repeated postponements of its Pierside Village decision.