Meeting to discuss Beach-Edinger project

The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing next week to plan out a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly area with a town center near Beach Boulevard and Edinger Avenue.

The Beach and Edinger Corridors Specific Plan includes a 459-acre area along Beach and Edinger, and along Edinger to Goldenwest Street. The plan would dictate land use and building intensity, guide building design and aesthetics, and allow a mixed-land use zoning to create a more visually pleasing area.

The commission certified the plan’s Environmental Impact Report at its Dec. 8 meeting, and the plan must gain approval from the commission and City Council and be certified by the California Coastal Commission.

The city wants to improve the economic opportunities in the area by renovating the nondescript strip malls, creating uniform signage and establishing a consistent landscaping plan.

To make the area pedestrian-friendly, the plan would place retail, offices, restaurants and residential uses close together, make the sidewalks appear larger and create promenades and open space.

The plan would allow a maximum development of 6,400 units of residential, more than 700,000 square feet of commercial, more than 100,000 square feet of office development and 350 hotel rooms.

A town center would also be created on Edinger near Gothard Street.

The city has held a series of workshops and study sessions on the project. At the Dec. 8 Planning Commission meeting, several residents spoke out against the project over concerns that its negative impacts on residents would be too significant.

The public hearing will start 7 p.m. Tuesday in Council Chambers at City Hall on Main Street.

To view all documents related to the project, go to www.surfcity-hb.org and look under the Planning Commission’s major projects.