HUNTINGTON BEACH : Coastal Commission OKs Downtown Plan

The city’s plan to downscale downtown redevelopment has been approved by the California Coastal Commission.

The Downtown Specific Plan incorporates a “village concept”: three- and four-story buildings on Main Street and a pedestrian-oriented area to link Main with the city pier and Pacific Coast Highway.

“It’s a more intimate scale of development and design,” Planning Director Howard Zelefsky said. “It gives definitive direction for the completion of the downtown and allows for greater flexibility for commercial development because of the shared parking concept.”

The plan will go before the City Council in late April or early May for final approval.

The city’s original plan allowed for 1.5 million square feet of development. The revised plan reduced development to about 500,000 square feet.

The plan encompasses 336 acres from Beach Boulevard to Golden West Street along Pacific Coast Highway and on Main from Pacific Coast Highway to Palm Avenue. It provides guidelines for commercial and residential development and addresses parking needs and incentives for affordable housing.

Mayor Victor Leipzig said Thursday’s Coastal Commission approval of the plan is a milestone.

“At long last we can have an approved Downtown Specific Plan and a parking plan,” Leipzig said. “It means a lot to business owners and property owners whose developments have been on hold because of this plan. Now we’re going to see a burst of economic activity downtown.”

Prominent locations already built downtown include Pierside Pavilion, which houses a movie theater and restaurants, a parking structure and Oceanview Promenade, home of Jack’s Surf and Sport.