HUNTINGTON BEACH : Panel Expected to OK Pierside Project

As the Planning Commission tonight again considers the controversial Pierside Village project, city voters will be casting their ballots on an initiative that could throw another roadblock in the path of the long-delayed development.

Commissioner Ken Bourguignon, a longtime proponent of the project, is expected to cast the decisive vote to approve the project, breaking the commission’s 3-3 deadlock on the issue reached at its Oct. 23 meeting. Bourguignon did not attend that meeting.

But if voters today approve Measure C, a proposed City Charter amendment that would require voter approval before the city could sell or lease any beach or parkland, it would probably force a citywide vote before the redevelopment project could get under way.

Both opponents and backers of Pierside Village have said that the Measure C vote, in part, will essentially serve as a referendum on the project. And, if a majority of voters support Measure C, they could also be expected to oppose a lease of land for the Pierside Village project, officials said.

A rival proposal placed on the ballot by the City Council, Measure D, would require a citywide vote on sales of parks or beach land but would still allow leases. Since the Pierside proposal would involve a lease of property, it would not be affected if Measure D becomes law.

Pierside Village is a proposed complex of restaurants to be built on the bluffs south of the Municipal Pier at Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway on land now paved for beach parking.

During four years of divisive debate among planners, council members and residents, critics have argued that the project would block ocean views and ruin the beach ambience. Supporters contend that it would attract more visitors and that the project’s plazas and promenades would give more people a chance to see the ocean.

Bourguignon said Monday that after viewing a videocassette recording of the last hearing, which he was unable to attend, “I haven’t heard anything to change my mind” in supporting the proposal. “But, of course, if (Measure) C passes, the question may be moot.”

In addition to the threat posed to the project by Measure C, Pierside Village also faces a potential legal challenge from the state attorney general’s office and the State Lands Commission. Those agencies have charged that the project would violate an easement on the beach property that provides that it be used exclusively for public recreation.