OCTD Selects Developer for Huntington Beach Transit Terminal

The Orange County Transit District board Thursday selected Property Ventures Co. of Newport Beach as the developer for a nine-story, 135,000-square-foot transit terminal and office complex at the corner of Gothard Street and Center Drive in Huntington Beach.

The project is similar to the office complex being built at the OCTD transit terminal in Santa Ana, which is also being developed by Property Ventures.

The firm’s proposal was chosen over a rival plan for a smaller, four-story complex submitted by Wing Development, which said a larger building would not attract enough tenants at sufficiently high rental rates to generate income for OCTD.

Fred Owens, business manager at Golden West College, complained to the OCTD board that the planned terminal would increase traffic congestion and air pollution on his campus, across the street from the project.

OCTD officials said an environmental impact report must be completed and the Huntington Beach Planning Commission and City Council must approve the project after public hearings before it can proceed.

Supervisor Don R. Roth abstained from the board vote because he received a $250 campaign contribution from Wing Development in August. Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, who was out of town, also would have been required to abstain because he received a $250 contribution from Wing Development in June.

Under the state’s Political Reform Act, members of quasi-judicial boards and commissions must abstain from decisions affecting donors who have contributed $250 or more within the preceding 12 months. The same law prohibits solicitation of contributions for three months after a vote. The statute covers decisions involving permits, licenses, entitlements and contracts, according to OCTD legal counsel Kennard R. Smart Jr.

Roth said Thursday’s vote was the first time since joining the OCTD board in January that he has had to abstain. He said picking a developer for a project is “granting an entitlement.”

In other action Thursday, OCTD board members postponed a decision about proposed changes in dial-a-ride, the door-to-door van service available for short trips by appointment. While the OCTD staff is proposing to increase service to help build future markets for regular OCTD bus routes, Stanton and others have suggested limiting ridership to cut dial-a-ride’s heavily subsidized costs.

Roth, who previously criticized dial-a-ride, said Thursday he supports the program. He said he returned from a transit conference in San Francisco last week with a new realization that almost all transit in the United States is subsidized.