HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

The following items were considered by the City Council on Monday:

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FEES

The city council voted 7-0 to postpone a final vote on establishing an “in-lieu” fee that developers could pay if they wanted to avoid having to set aside units for affordable housing requirements. The original staff-recommended action was to pass an ordinance establishing such a fee, but after Chamber of Commerce representatives complained about some of its provisions in the public hearing, council members decided to hold off for more study.

WHAT IT MEANS

The council will discuss the structure of the fees further in June.

Some issues still to be considered are how much to focus on affordable rentals versus affordable houses and condos, as well as whether to allow such a fee for larger properties as well, something developers and the Chamber of Commerce favor.

RESOLUTIONS ON PENDING LEGISLATION

The council voted 7-0 on a resolution supporting an Orange County Water District and Orange County Sanitation District’s Groundwater Replenishment System, which would inject highly treated and filtered sewer water of drinking quality into the ground where it would eventually mix with the water table. The resolution also opposes AB 1459, a state assembly bill that Councilwoman Jill Hardy said would ban time-shares in coastal zones.

Unlike the Intergovernmental Relations Committee’s recommendation, the council voted 4-3 to stay neutral on SB 645, a state Senate bill that would allow the sanitation district to use a design-build process, which uses a single company throughout designing and building phases to compress construction times, on projects costing over $10 million.

WHAT IT MEANS

Mayor Gil Coerper is authorized to tell state representatives the city opposes AB 1459. Local contractors’ objections to provisions in the design-build bill that they say favor unionized labor convinced a majority of the council not to lobby in either direction on that bill despite their support of its general aims.

MAIN STREET CLOSURE

The council voted 7-0 to close Main Street to vehicles on June 16 and 17.

WHAT IT MEANS

The city is authorized to close the street for a weekend festival those dates, part of the trial plan to close the street occasionally this year that also produced the weekly Surf City Nights street fair. In all, the plan would have five weekend closures this year in addition to the Surf City Nights trial.

— Michael Alexander