HUNTINGTON BEACH : Developer Refuses to Modify Project

In an unusual move, a developer has refused the City Council’s order to redesign a controversial condominium project to be built near Bolsa Chica.

The developer’s refusal to modify the proposed project means the council may have to decide later this month whether to reject the development altogether.

At issue are seven condominium buildings near Palm Avenue and Seapoint Street, each to be three stories tall. The site abuts land dedicated for the county’s future Bolsa Chica Linear Park.

Environmentalists, including members of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, complained earlier this year that the proposed project, called Surfcrest North, would be built too close to the park. They also said that Surfcrest North should be scaled back so that fewer condominiums would be built in the environmentally fragile area.

The City Council, by a 4-2 vote on June 1, agreed with the critics and sent the Surfcrest North plan back to the developer to be redesigned.

But the developer, Surfcrest Partners, notified the city on June 24 that it declined to change its plans. In a letter to city staff, Tom Zanic, an official of Surfcrest Partners, said the company did not think changes are needed.

“We believe that the project as approved by the (Huntington Beach) Planning Commission is compatible with city planning and policies and does not require modification,” Zanic said in his letter. “Therefore we do not intend to change it.”

In an interview Thursday, Zanic said: “We’ve been working on this project close to two years, and we’ve already redesigned it to satisfy the (city’s) subdivision review committee, the city staff and the Planning Commission.”

He added that the developers believe they have acted in good faith and should not have to change the project once again.

City officials said Thursday that the resulting impasse may mean that the council will have to vote on whether to kill the project or insist on changes.

Councilwoman Grace Winchell, who led the June 1 move to urge the council to order changes in Surfcrest North, said Thursday that she hopes the developer can still be persuaded to redesign the condominium plans.

“It’s my belief that not only the city but also the developer of this project would gain by presenting a project more sensitive to the environment,” she said.