HUNTINGTON BEACH : Holly-Seacliff Parcel Rezoned Industrial

In a move that increases the city’s shrinking industrial area, the City Council has rezoned a nine-acre portion of the Holly-Seacliff development area.

Holly-Seacliff is a 768-acre area northwest of the city’s downtown. Once covered by oil wells, the acreage has in recent years been withdrawn from oil production and is now scheduled to become a new residential enclave.

After heated debate, the City Council in 1990 approved a development agreement with a subsidiary of the Huntington Beach Co. for building up to 3,780 new residential units in Holly-Seacliff.

Some critics of that agreement charged that the city’s contract with the developer did not require enough land to be zoned for industry.

During its meeting last week, the City Council heard a city staff recommendation to rezone nine acres in Holly-Seacliff from medium-density residential to industrial.

Staff noted that there are already some businesses and industries on the nine acres north of Clay Avenue, between Stewart and Crystal streets.

Keeping the area zoned industrial would allow the existing businesses to continue there and would also increase the Holly-Seacliff total industrial land by 16%, the staff said.

“Due to diminishing industrial land . . . the city should preserve the existing industrial uses where possible,” said a report by Mike Adams, director of community development.

The industrial rezoning would eliminate 83 housing sites, but the report recommended rezoning an adjoining eight-acre site to allow slightly denser housing to add 50 units there.

The council agreed to both proposals, and the rezonings were approved, 6 to 0.