Potential home developer for Rodgers senior center site pulls out

Before the Huntington Beach City Council could deliberate on the issue Monday night, a developer selected to build homes on the Michael E. Rodgers Seniors’ Center property pulled out of its negotiating agreement with the city.

Bill Holman, vice president of land development for Christopher Homes, said during a council meeting that although the company has mixed feelings about the decision, it will terminate the agreement after many residents opposed Huntington Beach’s plans for the city-owned site at Orange Avenue and 17th Street.

“Maybe another time, another day,” Holman said.

Councilman Erik Peterson, who had placed a proposal on Monday’s agenda to terminate the agreement with the developer, pulled it from discussion.

“They had their ear to the public and really listened to them,” Mayor Jim Katapodis said Tuesday morning. “They figured that the majority of the public didn’t want houses there, so they’re not going to put them there.”

However, many downtown residents still gave council members their 2 cents on the issue Monday night, asking them to keep the 2-acre site as recreational space. The Rodgers Seniors’ Center is scheduled to close once a new senior center is completed at Central Park by next summer.

“To trade public land for private use is wrong, as we have seen so many school district properties that are now gone forever,” resident Eric Bauer said.

City Manager Fred Wilson said city staff will hold a study session with council members to discuss options.

In November, the city entered the agreement with Christopher Homes, enabling the company to propose building 22 homes and up to a 0.4-acre park on the Rodgers property. The developer also was proposing to pay the city $11 million for the land.

Earlier this month, residents took issue with the city’s plan to sell the site for home development, telling council members that the city needed to abide by an agreement with Chevron Corp., which in 1917 had granted the property to the city for $10, provided it be maintained for open space or recreational use.

However, City Atty. Michael Gates has said since April that the conditions in the agreement with Chevron no longer apply. Under the state’s Marketable Record Title Act, Gates said, Chevron needed to renew its interest in the property every 30 years. However, the oil company had not done so since granting the property to the city nearly a century ago, he said.

Should the city decide to go through with the sale to a developer, it could trigger a Measure C vote. That law was approved by city residents in 1990, requiring voter approval whenever the city proposes to sell or lease open space or a recreational site for residential or commercial development.

The developer also would have to pay the city for an environmental impact report and fees associated with the election.