Strand could be in the clear

A multi-use Downtown development is poised to clear the last few

legal hurdles that would allow the developer to proceed with the

Strand, a 152-room Residence Inn and bevy of top-line shops.

City leaders are negotiating a settlement to end two lawsuits

filed by the project’s chief opponent, a group called Citizens

Against Redevelopment Excess. This comes on the heels of the

California Coastal Commission’s denial of that group’s appeal earlier

this month.

“We’re trying to come to an agreement with the city over several

issues,” said James A. Lane, spokesman of Citizens Against

Redevelopment Excess, who filed both the lawsuits and the appeal to

the coastal commission. “We’re trying to reach a settlement.”

CIM Group Inc. has secured city approval to build the

225,000-square-foot development with the hotel and eight shops,

including a Victoria’s Secret and Express.

City officials would not discuss the specific terms of a possible

settlement, but did acknowledge the talks. Council members discussed

the item in a closed-door meeting Tuesday night.

City attorneys are negotiating with the group’s attorney Jeffrey

Oderman, a partner at Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker. Oderman did

not return calls for comment.

“This is pending litigation,” Deputy City Atty. Scott Field said.

“I have no comment.”

Both parties have a settlement conference scheduled for Feb. 3 in

Orange County Superior Court.

Lane’s group filed two separate lawsuits against the city in 2001

challenging the project. The group’s main complaint was that the

project would clog already crowded Downtown by not providing enough

parking. CIM Group has proposed a two-story underground structure

that would add 400 stalls to the area.

Lane said the little surf-wear shops and liquor stores nearby will

be squeezed out of existence by a dearth of parking for employees and

customers.

The citizen’s group also appealed the city’s approval of the

project with the California Coastal Commission, which denied that

appeal at its Jan. 10 meeting.

The council approved the project Oct. 21. A week later, council

members directed staff to look into ways to add parking to the

project, using Downtown parking fees the city collects from

businesses.

The city is considering using these so-called “parking in lieu”

fees to build up to 30 additional stalls, Senior Planner Herb

Faulland said. The city could use as much as $980,110 in revenue from

these fees, but much of those funds will be paid out according to a

15-year payment plan used by many of the businesses.

-- Paul Clinton

Donations help revive the DARE program

A handful of private donations have breathed new life into the

police department’s drug and violence prevention program, which lost

city funding last month.

On Tuesday, the City Council passed along $21,500 in donations to

the police department.

Councilwomen Pam Julien Houchen and Cathy Green spearheaded an

effort to help collect donations to fund the Drug Abuse Resistance

Education program. The council cut funding to DARE Dec. 16.

Police Chief Kenneth Small had said the nine weeks of the second

semester of the program, which is taught in local schools, would cost

at least $77,000. Small said he could design an abridged version of

DARE for less.

Houchen said more donations are on the way.

Planning Commission flap heats up again

The City Council’s order to the Planning Commission to cut its

number of monthly meetings in half flared up again this week, when

commissioners and activists lashed out.

The council will revisit the decision to shave planning meetings

from two to one per month at its Feb. 3 meeting. The elimination of

one meeting a month was a cost cutting move.

Commissioner Randy Kokal, at Tuesday’s council meeting, criticized

the decision during public remarks, complaining that the ordinance

approved by the council Jan. 6 restricts his power to call special

meetings.

Mayor Connie Boardman, who appointed Kokal in 2001, asked her

colleagues to reconsider the matter shortly after Kokal spoke.

Activist Mark Bixby also criticized the earlier decision as a “clumsy

power grab.”

Boardman, who endorsed the earlier move, reversed course, saying

she had “a problem with the way [the Jan. 6 vote] was handled.”

After conferring with City Atty. Jennifer McGrath to determine

whether the previous ordinance could be reversed, the council

determined it needed to wait because it was not on the agenda.

Boardman’s attempt to revisit the issue failed on a 4-2 vote, with

Councilwoman Cathy Green and Boardman in the minority.

City’s tree society reports stellar year

The Huntington Beach Tree Society reported that in 2002 it planted

about 1,000 trees around the city, including 350 at the now-closed

Shipley Nature Center.

The society also helped organize the city’s application to become

a “Tree City USA.” As part of its outreach efforts, the society also

launched a Web site (www.hbtrees.org) and distributed copies of four

illustrated books on trees to every school library in the city during

Earth Week.

The group also created a tree nursery and entered its annual float

in the city’s Fourth of July parade. For more information, call (714)

564-1396.