HUNTINGTON BEACH : Plans for School in Seacliff Project OKd

Capping 10 months of often acrimonious negotiations, school district officials and representatives from the developer of the Holly-Seacliff project have formally agreed to terms for a new elementary school that will serve the massive housing development.

Huntington Beach City School District trustees on Thursday night unanimously approved an agreement with Seacliff Partners to build an 8.3-acre campus. Executives for the development partnership, which includes the Huntington Beach Co., signed the agreement Friday.

The pact, which was tentatively reached two weeks ago, removes the last major hurdle in the approval of the remaining 569 acres of the Holly-Seacliff development. The Huntington Beach City Council will hold a special public hearing on Monday to consider the project.

The 4,410-homes project, in the north-central part of the city, will cover 768 acres. The first 199 acres of the development, including 480 homes, is already under construction.

Under the agreement, Seacliff Partners--which owns 90% of the Holly-Seacliff area property--will pay the school district $13.5 million and loan it an additional $1.5 million. The settlement payment is about 70% higher than the school fees the developer was required to pay under state law.

The money will enable the district to buy the land, build the elementary school and renovate a middle school or closed site to accommodate the estimated 1,200 new students the development is expected to attract.

School district officials, who maintained that the developer’s earlier offers would not provide enough money for the new school and other required changes, were relieved and elated Thursday upon signing the pact.

“I’m proud of the fact that I think we’ve acted in a responsible way,” Board President Brian Garland said.

“This agreement is not overly generous on their part,” school district Superintendent Duane Dishno said, adding that he believes the accord “represents a fair deal.”

Tom Zanic, a spokesman for Seacliff Partners, agreed. “We are looking forward to a continued cooperative relationship with the district,” he said.

Construction on the new school will begin in about 14 months, as new homes are going up around it, said Marshall Krupp, the school district’s consultant on the issue.