Watchdog group gets city update

It was a broad look at the state of the city and a status update on projects and issues all over Huntington Beach — all in 15 minutes.

Visitors to the annual public meeting of local watchdog group Huntington Beach Tomorrow got a preview from City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft of many of the changes and issues Huntington Beach is likely to face in the year to come.

Speaking rapidly in what she called a “channel-flipping” speech, Culbreth-Graft outlined 30 projects, capital improvements and issues underway or soon to begin in the city. She spent an average of 30 seconds per issue, not counting questions.

One section of the speech covered issues on the front-burner for this year, from the next yearly budget to an inventory of substandard shopping centers asked for by Councilman Don Hansen to Mayor Gil Coerper’s requested study on annexing the Bolsa Chica entirely.

Some of those issues have already led to changes, she said. A consultant study on streamlining city fees for developers led the city to review all such fees to avoid penalizing new development.

“It turned out some fees are as much as 400% higher than neighboring cities,” Culbreth-Graft said.

Coerper also spoke more generally to the few dozen attendees on current issues, including a few closed school sites, such as Kettler Elementary, which he said the city had a chance to preserve as open space.

“My personal opinion is that if you’re concerned, let the school district know about this,” he told listeners.

Both he and Culbreth-Graft answered questions on a transportation corridor the city will study using Orange County Transportation Authority money, especially an area some fear will become an unwelcome rail line in a residential area.

“We’re going to meet with residents,” Culbreth-Graft said. “We’re going to try and remove from the table everything we can so they can get sleep at night.”

According to Culbreth-Graft, the city’s improvement projects include reconstruction of streets throughout the city, including Adams Avenue; new bathrooms on the beaches and permanent buildings on Huntington Beach Pier; and park and library improvements.

One project Culbreth-Graft admitted a fondness for was a $7-million earthquake retrofit of City Hall, which she said included $3 million in federal funds.

“Right now, floors 4 and 5 will pancake in a major quake,” she said, noting that her office, as well as those of every council member, were on those floors. “I’ve got a personal interest in that one.”

Developments are ongoing throughout the city as well, including: housing subdivisions in the upper Bolsa Chica, which Culbreth-Graft said will be annexed to the city in phases; a redevelopment of the former Montgomery Ward site near the Bella Terra mall, which may become a mix of apartments and businesses but will not become a Costco site due to parking constraints; hotels and shopping complexes like the Strand project north of Main Street, which already has its parking structure complete.

The room applauded loudly after the speech, and attendees said they appreciated the sometimes overwhelming breadth of the information they received.

“We got a very good education tonight,” said Huntington Beach Tomorrow President Crystal Kerins.