HUNTINGTON BEACH : Apartment Complex Renovation OKd

In a move to stamp out crime and drug dealing in a deteriorating neighborhood, the City Council has approved a plan for rehabilitating a private apartment building in the Florida-Utica area.

The neighborhood at the intersection of Florida Street and Utica Avenue has in recent years been the site of increasing drug activity, police have said.

Residents in the area flocked to a City Council meeting last year to demand better attention to the growing crime in their neighborhood.

At a meeting Sept. 8, the City Council unanimously endorsed a $600,000 plan for redevelopment loans and grants to renovate a 36-unit apartment building on the 700 block of Utica Avenue.

The plan also ensures that the rents will be kept affordable at the remodeled apartment complex.

“This proposal . . . will produce a completely new image for the neighborhood and (a better) living environment for the tenants,” said city Community Development Director Mike Adams in a memo to the council.

Adams said the rehabilitation proposal is geared to keeping affordable housing for low-income families.

He said the city’s Affordable Housing Task Force unanimously supported the plan.

The proposal calls for renovating all 36 apartments.

The plan also calls for landscaping, fencing, lighting, security systems, reconstructed carports and construction of a play area for children.