Huntington Beach City Council to give already-approved Bolsa Chica senior project another look

The Huntington Beach City Council could be walking back approval for a senior care project that narrowly garnered both Planning Commission and council support in the fall.

The Bolsa Chica Senior Care Community was approved 4-3 by the previous council in October, but the new council unanimously voted to further review the facility at its Dec. 17 meeting.

An ad hoc committee, made up of three council members, will review information given to the council when the project was approved.

Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns, who has expressed sizable concerns about the project each time it was brought up, said the ad hoc committee will work with the city attorney and community development offices and could revoke or amend the specific plan created for the 159-unit facility.

Hines is the developer for the project, which would be built at the southwest corner of Bolsa Chica Street and Warner Avenue. Clearwater Living is the operator.

The facility would feature 134 assisted living units and 25 memory care units.

Parking was one of his biggest concerns for the project, Burns said in an interview Monday. The number of parking spots is 104, with 82 of those in a subterranean parking garage.

Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns, the mayor pro tem at the time, laughs during a City Council meeting on Aug. 6.

(James Carbone)

“They’re saving millions [of dollars] by cutting parking, and I don’t even care,” he said. “I say, make your money, save on cost, but not at the expense of the people who have to live around you ... Code’s the minimum, man. Given that there is no other parking around there, unless you’re parking on the street, doesn’t make it OK to stay at code.”

“I just would like some answers cleared up and analyzed ... I’m not comfortable with it at all, especially for such a controversial project. I don’t think we serve the people without properly analyzing it.”

He added that he feels the proposed project has merit, but it’s the council’s responsibility to insure the end result is suitable for the community.

“We have to stand strong and say, the best thing for the city is that it be kept reasonable,” Burns said.

Tony Strickland is the last remaining council member on the dais who voted to approve the project in October.

Notably, new council members Butch Twining and Don Kennedy voted against the project when they were on the Planning Commission.

“I think it’s a needed facility in town,” Strickland said in an interview Monday. “It’s one of the few things that I’ve disagreed with [Burns, Gracey Van Der Mark and Mayor Pro Tem Casey McKeon] on. If they want to do an ad hoc committee and look at the findings, I have no problem with it. There will be less traffic after this is built, based on the traffic studies. When you look at Merrill Gardens, which does have independent living, there’s not a lot of traffic coming in and out of that facility, and this facility doesn’t even have independent living.”

The council also unanimously voted to ask staff to develop criteria to ensure that future high-density residential developments do not cause significant and adverse impacts to public health and safety.

“In Huntington Beach, multifamily developments construct studio and single-bedroom units with small overall square footage in order to maximize financial profits,” McKeon said. “This results in a lack of two-bedroom, three-bedroom and greater size units, thereby perpetuating overcrowding.”

But Adam Wood, senior vice president of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, said during public comments that one-bedroom apartments weren’t the problem.

“Density is building a one-bedroom and studio, overcrowding is when you have three or four families living in a one-bedroom,” Wood said. “That’s a code enforcement issue, not a construction issue.”