Pier stores want to stay

After more than a decade of souvenirs and fishing gear for sale out of boxy portable structures on Huntington Beach Pier, the city is poised to move onto something a little more permanent. But some worry that the standard bidding process for vendors in the new buildings would kick out some of the city’s most loyal retailers.

The Surf City Store, Let’s Go Fishin’ and the Kite Connection have a good chance of sticking around, but they would be selling from permanent buildings just approved by the City Council.

“They put a lot of heart and soul into Huntington Beach,” Mayor Gil Coerper said. “I would hate to see the kite store forced out because he cannot pay the rent.”

Council members voted 7-0 Monday night to pass a four-point plan of action for the pier: to approve the construction of two buildings; to request a permit from the California Coastal Commission for a third building to be constructed as soon as possible; to recommend the occupants be a bait and tackle shop, souvenir shop and kite store; and to recommend the souvenir shop and kite store share one of the two buildings. The construction uses money already budgeted by the council last year.

Owners of the shops showed up to say they appreciated their time on the pier and hoped to stay there. Kite Connection owner Dave Shenkman said selling on the pier had given him a strong connection to the city.

“We’re very close,” he said. “We act as ambassadors for the city; we probably answer more tourist questions than the Conference and Visitors Bureau does. I’d like to confirm my desire to remain on the pier as part of the permanent structures.”

Store owners put portable buildings on the pier at their own expense, and they have been paying rent month-to-month for more than a decade without a long-term lease, Community Services Director Jim Engle said.

After Councilman Joe Carchio asked for special consideration for the existing store owners, Engle appeared to agree.

“Staff agrees we have had a very successful relationship with them,” he said. “They came forward with the money all on their own and paid for the [existing temporary] structures themselves.”

As for other pier upgrades, some members asked the staff to explore ways of adding a food and coffee stand eventually, saying Ruby’s Diner didn’t fill all needs. Others demanded a long, hard look at the designs of the new buildings, saying the pier wasn’t yet fulfilling its potential as a tourist attraction.

“We really need to create something architecturally delicious,” said Councilwoman Debbie Cook. “Something that doesn’t look portable.”

Huntington Beach has had a pier in some form since 1903, and in its current form since 1992, after a storm destroyed 250 feet of pier and the café at its far end in 1988.

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