HUNTINGTON BEACH : City Atty.: Measure C Halts Pierside Plan

In a legal opinion released Thursday, Huntington Beach City Atty. Gail Hutton said that newly passed Measure C probably affects the controversial Pierside Village project.

Measure C, endorsed by 73% of the city’s voters Nov. 6, prohibits the city from selling or leasing park or beach land without approval of the voters and the City Council.

Supporters of Measure C said during the fall campaign that one of the initiative’s key goals was to halt the City Council’s proposed construction of Pierside Village. That project calls for at least two more commercial restaurants on the ocean side of Pacific Coast Highway, between Main and 1st streets.

Some advocates of Pierside Village had argued that the project would not come under Measure C because the site is not pristine beach. They noted that the land is actually a paved-over area now used as parking lots.

But Hutton, in her legal opinion, said that even if the proposed Pierside Village site is not considered “beach” land, it probably comes under Measure C.

“While this land may not be a beach, it is arguably parkland,” Hutton said. “The definition of park is ‘land set aside for public use.’ ” The site in question has been used by the public since the city obtained an easement on it in 1932.

Some supporters of Pierside Village had hoped it could be shielded from Measure C by having the City Council transfer the land to the city’s Redevelopment Agency, which is an arm of the state.

Hutton, in her legal opinion, agreed that Measure C does not affect Redevelopment Agency actions. But she said that the City Council, because of Measure C’s passage, must seek a citywide vote to transfer the land once the measure is certified. That certification is expected next week.

Mayor Pro Tem Peter Green said Thursday he does not expect a last-minute attempt to pass Pierside Village at Monday’s City Council meeting. “The staff has recommended that action on this be delayed,” Green said. He heads the City Council while Mayor Thomas J. Mays is visiting New Zealand.

John Fisher, a founder of Save Our Parks, the group behind Measure C’s passage, said Thursday that the upshot is that Pierside Village cannot be passed without voter approval. Fisher said he is certain the voting public does not want the project and therefore, he added, “Pierside Village is dead.”