Council Wrap-up

The City Council voted 6-0 to let First Christian Church go on with its $17-million rebuilding of its Main Street campus. The vote upholds an earlier planning commission vote that imposed more than 20 conditions on the project. Councilwoman Jill Hardy, a member of the church, abstained.

The church will be allowed to continue with its ambitious modernization plans, which include tearing down four buildings and building three new ones. Councilwoman Debbie Cook, who appealed the project after the city planning commission approved it last month, said she was satisfied by city staff’s response to neighbors who still had problems with the project.

The appeal arose from “an abundance of caution and really thinking that $2,000 for neighbors to appeal something is a bit outrageous,” Cook said, referring to the fee residents would have to pay to appeal it themselves.

In a 6-0 Council vote, the Huntington Beach Beer Co. was given one last chance to negotiate with the police before it loses its entertainment license altogether, after a year in which it drew at least 33 police incidents and had 12 violations of its permit conditions. Under a possible deal, the restaurant would lose its dancing permit for a period of months but still be allowed to have DJs play music. Councilman Joe Carchio abstained because he owns a restaurant downtown near the Beer Co.

The permit has been revoked since July 2, but the company was allowed to continue serving while negotiations and an appeal were ongoing. Council members at first took a hard line on owner Cesar Peña as Police Chief Ken Small told them negotiations had gone nowhere, but they opened the possibility of a compromise when they found out the Beer Co. hadn’t drawn a new complaint since May. If a deal is not worked out by the next council meeting Nov. 9, members said they expected to deny the appeal and revoke the permit.

The city council unanimously approved designs for seven new permanent public restrooms in Bluff Top Park along the beach, which would replace temporary units there right now.

With this approval done, the city can now begin getting the permits and entitlements necessary to actually build the restrooms.