Huntington Beach seeks a home for affordable housing

Huntington Beach planners have identified several locations that the city could rezone for residential use to meet state requirements for affordable housing. However, residents have voiced opposition to many of the locations, claiming that the areas would not be suitable for homes.

Planning commissioners voted 6-0 Tuesday night to continue discussion on the potential sites to their Feb. 9 meeting, when more residents are expected to attend to air their opinions of the eight sites.

Chairman Ed Pinchiff recused himself from the discussion due to his home being within proximity to areas identified in the Beach and Edinger Corridors Specific Plan.

Commissioners opted to continue the item in anticipation of a ruling from the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which will determine if the sites that city staff have identified put Huntington in compliance with affordable housing requirements.

The sites being reviewed are three parcels at Stewart Lane and Clay Avenue, a 0.87-acre site at 700 Williams Drive, a 0.95-acre site at 4831 Sandy Drive, a 1-acre site at 18922 Delaware St., a 9.93-acre at Garfield Avenue and Gothard Street and a 0.98-acre site at 17552 Goldenwest St., according to planning manager Jennifer Villasenor.

Should the 16.49 acres of land be approved by the state and city, they would have the potential for about 519 affordable housing units, Villasenor said.

The city put itself in an affordable housing shortfall in May when it approved amendments to the Beach and Edinger Corridors Specific Plan, a plan the city adopted in September 2013 to revitalize Beach and Edinger by streamlining the approval process.

The changes were approved in light of many residents telling the city that there were too many housing developments being approved on Beach.

One of the major changes to the specific plan was to reduce the maximum number of residential units in the corridors from 4,500 to 2,100. Doing so caused the city to be 410 units short of the state mandated 1,353 affordable units.

In July, nonprofit Kennedy Commission sued the city over the changes. In November, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the nonprofit and declared the amendments void.

Villasenor said the city is planning to reapprove similar amendments it made in May and is using the newly identified sites to keep the city in compliance with its affordable housing requirements.

The city has until September to comply with state requirements, Villasenor said.

Several residents Tuesday night said that the three parcels of land at Stewart and Clay would not be right for housing due to the land being next to an oil field and the Gustafson Brothers automotive repair shop.

John Gustafson, founder and president of Gustafson Brothers, said there is a lot of noise emanating from his business and that it would be a nuisance to those living in a housing development next to his shop.

“No one wants to hear air tools all afternoon,” he said. “It’s not going to work.”