HUNTINGTON BEACH : City Wins Approval of ‘Pier Plaza’ Plans

The city received final approval to transform the beachfront into an attractive gateway to the municipal pier.

The California Coastal Commission Thursday approved the city’s plans for the $3.4-million “Pier Plaza.”

The city wants to build a plaza area next to the pier with a new boardwalk, a public amphitheater, a lawn area, restrooms and showers, a concession building, bicycle parking and redesigned public parking lots.

“It’s an ugly entry to the city’s No. 1 monument,” said Ron Hagan, community services director. But with the plaza improvements, including palm trees, colored concrete and benches, “it will be a grand entryway onto the pier.”

Coastal Commission officials recommended that the boardwalk be a maximum of 17 feet to minimize encroachment onto the sand.

Hagan said the city originally requested a 27-foot-wide boardwalk to accommodate foot and bike traffic and emergency vehicles. But plans have been scaled down to a 24-foot path.

A 24-foot path was approved, but the actual encroachment onto the sand is limited to 21 feet, Hagan said.

Hagan, along with police, fire and lifeguard officers, told the Coastal Commission that a wider path is needed for emergency vehicle access as well as to separate bicyclists and skaters from pedestrians to reduce accidents.

“Public safety is the main issue,” said Thomas F. Poe, division chief and fire marshal.

Mayor Linda Moulton Patterson, who is a member of the Coastal Commission, called the decision a “good compromise because it will certainly reduce the loss of sand, but provide for public safety.”

Moulton Patterson added that she is pleased the project is finally becoming a reality.

Bill Bernard, a board member of Huntington Beach Tomorrow, said the citizens’ group favors a 17-foot-wide path to limit encroachment onto the sand. “We need to preserve the sandy beach area,” he said.

Hagan said the next step is for the City Council to approve drawings, plans and specifications to put together a bid package by next spring. Next summer, a contractor is expected to be selected with construction beginning in the fall of 1995, he said. Completion is planned for mid-summer of 1996.