A Main Street battle brews

A debate familiar in beachside towns throughout Southern California is taking shape along Main Street. The source of contention: a proposed 5,300-square-foot, 31-foot-high house that neighbors don’t want taking shape on their quaint, time-has-passed-us-by blocks.

Anyone who has walked along Main Street just inland from downtown, where decades-old cottages still stand, will recognize the reason for conflict. This part of town undoubtedly maintains a small-town feel missing in much of Huntington Beach (and much of Southern California), where renovated or rebuilt houses have changed the nature of the community and stripped the streets of what passes for history in our 100-year-old cities. Along Main Street there are porches and front yards instead of homes stretched across entire lots. Homeowners here have chosen to maintain their aging cottages, as is their right.

But the same rights, for good or ill, allow other homeowners who wish to tear down older buildings to do so, unless there are city or other government codes that restrict them. And it appears that the homeowner in this case has presented plans that fit Huntington’s zoning requirements. There may be issues regarding the demolition of the old bungalow, but those are unlikely to halt the project.

This is where neighbors plan to come in. Already they are organizing, and they intend to fight the proposed construction -- “At this point, we’ll do anything we can to stop this project,” one neighbor said. It figures to be a nasty battle, as these debates almost invariably are.

Perhaps there are ways to avoid the coming fight. Are there changes the homeowner can make so the home fits in better? Are there plans that neighbors will accept, recognizing that their say on the plans is limited? Can the City Council step in and broker a compromise?

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Should Huntington Beach have size limits on new home construction? Call our Readers Hotline at (714) 966-4691 or send e-mail to [email protected]. Please spell your name and include your hometown and phone number for verification purposes.