Jenny MarderWhen John Scott talks about his...

Jenny Marder

When John Scott talks about his neighborhood, he glows.

His eyes light up as he drives by modern houses with beachfront

views, the local schools and the brand new playground equipment at

Eader Park. His face becomes animated as he points out trash cans

painted with beach scenes by neighborhood youngsters.

“They are symbolic of the pride that people have in the area,” the

Southeast Huntington Beach resident said. “It’s a great place to

live. A wonderful neighborhood.”

But some areas in the Southeast are easier to be proud of than

others, he said.

Much of the neighborhood is rundown and badly in need of repair.

Streets are lined with block-wall fences that are crumbling, and

cracked, narrow sidewalks barely accommodate two people walking side

by side. Concrete slab medians are uneven and sorely in need of

landscaping.

The Banning branch library is empty of tables, and its shelves are

so overstuffed with books that they bend under the weight.

But there is hope for this otherwise beloved section of town.

Southeast Huntington Beach, roughly one square mile of the city

bounded by Pacific Coast Highway, the Santa Ana River, Magnolia

Street and Hamilton Avenue, was formally declared a redevelopment

area on June 3, 2002.

Acting as the redevelopment agency, the city incurs debt through

public improvements and is paid back over time by a portion of the

climbing property value.

“The key purpose of redevelopment is to eliminate blight,” said

Gus Duran, the housing and redevelopment manager.

The first phase of the redevelopment process has begun, following

a laundry list of capital improvements.

The city drafted a list of priorities for capital improvements at

a March 27 meeting of the Southeast Area committee, a City Council

committee made up of members Dave Sullivan, Jill Hardy and Cathy

Green.

The list includes upgrading storm drains and pumping stations,

widening Newland Street and installing more traffic signals.

Duran estimates that $1.4 million will be slated for projects this

year, although planning for construction of public improvements is

still in the preliminary stages and some of the larger projects might

not even start for another couple years.

Many residents are thrilled that the area is finally getting the

attention.

“I really do think that this is the right approach,” said David

Guido, president of the Huntington Beach Coastal Communities Assn.,

which was formed in 1998 and represents about 130 homes in the Southeast, a sector bordered by Newland Street and Atlanta Avenue.

“The Southeast is so far behind in the very basic structures of the

city. I believe that things will go quicker and better with

redevelopment than without it.”

Guido also lauded the city’s effort to widen Newland Street, a

road that he said has taken the lives of at least three people in the

12 years that he’s lived in the area.

But each industry in the Southeast area, so far, has drawn a range

of complaints from the area’s homeowners. The AES Huntington Beach

power plant looms on the horizon, detracting from the ocean view.

Odors from the sanitation plant creep into surrounding homes.

Residents suspect both plants unleash pollution into the water,

Scott said.

Now there is a proposal by Poseidon Resources Corp. to build a

desalination plant there. Although Bill Owens, a Poseidon official,

vowed that the proposed desalination plant would be quiet and odor

free, residents worry that it would have other effects, such as

noise, traffic and pollution.

If approved, the desalination plant would be built next door to

AES at 21730 Newland St.

“We have an awful lot of pollution now and we don’t need any

more,” Scott said. “We don’t want our ocean to get any dirtier and we

don’t want our air to get any dirtier.”

While most residents welcome the basic improvements, they fear the

consequences that more industry could bring to the area.

“What we don’t want to see is a bunch of big, old plants that are

going to swallow up the whole area,” Guido said.

Residents have their fingers crossed for additional open space and

development besides industry that would generate revenue for the

neighborhood.

“I’m hoping to see it change to more commercial zoning,” said Ed

DeMuelle, chairman for the Southeast Huntington Beach Neighborhood

Assn., which a third of area homeowners are active in. “We do need to

bring more tax income to the city, but there are other things that

could be done besides industrial. What’s wrong with visitor-serving

commercial?”

Regardless of zoning or residents’ wishes, the city has no

concrete plans for the area beyond the capitol improvements yet,

Duran said, adding that it doesn’t mean that there won’t be over

time.

Residents are OK with tackling the area’s infrastructure first.

“Lets get some of the basic stuff taken care of first,” Guido

said. “Then we can worry about making things look pretty.”

The Southeast Area Committee’s next meeting, to continue planning

for the area, will be held at 3:30 p.m. May 20 in room B-8 of the

Civic Center.

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at [email protected].