HUNTINGTON BEACH : Pierside Action Off Council Agenda

Pierside Village has been withdrawn from the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the City Council.

Mayor Thomas J. Mays said Wednesday that the item was withdrawn because of legal considerations. The mayor said he was informed by the city attorney’s office that state law requires Planning Commission action before transfer of land to a Redevelopment Agency. Thus, Mays said, the proposed action on the agenda would not be legal.

The council majority had initially proposed transferring the 3.5 acres of beach-bluff land proposed for Pierside Village from city ownership to ownership by the Redevelopment Agency, which is an arm of the state. Such a move would have sheltered the Pierside land from Measure C, a citizens’ initiative that is on Tuesday’s ballot.

Measure C, if passed, would prohibit the city’s selling or leasing park or beach land without a citywide vote. Supporters of the initiative have said that a key goal is to try to block the city from building Pierside Village.

Pierside Village calls for construction of at least two new commercial restaurants on paved land abutting the beach at the municipal pier. Reconstruction of the existing Maxwell’s Restaurant would be part of the project.

Debbie Cook, spokeswoman for Save Our Parks, the group that is spearheading Measure C, said Wednesday that residents from all over Huntington Beach had been calling her to express anger about the council’s scheduling last-minute action on Pierside Village. “I’m relieved it’s now off the agenda, but it makes you wonder about what kind of people would try to do something like this,” Cook said.

“They (members of the council majority) only took it off because of legal advice. They still don’t care how the people feel about this project.”