HUNTINGTON BEACH : Land Swap Is OKd Without Opposition

A once-controversial proposal--swapping a piece of city-owned land for a Civic Center parking lot owned by the city’s biggest developer--drew no opposition this week before being approved by the City Council.

The issue involved a swap of land the city owns at the northwest corner of Clay and Golden West streets for a piece of property owned by the Huntington Beach Co. That company, the largest private land owner in the city, had allowed the city to build an extra Civic Center parking lot on the land.

The quarter-acre city site at Clay and Golden West was appraised at $245,000, and the three-quarter-acre site owned by the Huntington Beach Co. was appraised at $671,000.

The Huntington Beach Co. proposed that the city swap its land in partial payment for the $671,000 parking lot. The company said the city could repay the remaining $426,000 over a period of years.

In May, the city’s Planning Commission voted 4-2 to reject the proposed land swap. The commission majority said the city may some day need the land at Clay and Golden West for a water-pumping station or possible reservoir site.

Planning Commissioner Victor Leipzig urged the council to reject the proposed land swap, pointing out that the city’s property could increase in value because it has one of the highest elevations in the city.

But on Monday night, during final council consideration of the land swap, no one spoke in opposition to the deal.

Mayor Peter M. Green, who had previously expressed some reservations about the land swap, told the council he had reconsidered the matter and no longer opposes the proposal.