Cultural Center

A city official said a petition that is circulating about development on the Main Street Library grounds is premature. J. Richardson Gray, whose residence in the Townsquare Condominiums overlooks the park-like Main Street Library grounds, has collected more than 240 signatures in his petition campaign to change the proposed Huntington Beach Downtown Specific Plan Update, released Dec. 4. Gray is concerned about a potential plan to develop the...

The Planning Commission made clear that it heard residents’ concerns and in a straw vote decided not to let Triangle Park and Main Street Library be developed into a cultural center at a public hearing Tuesday addressing changes to the Downtown Specific Plan. The commission passed a series of preliminary votes to preserve the park, limit the square footage allowance of the library, open up parking options in the area to more than just underground and allow a small cafe on the park.

When Donna Nelson was growing up, the Main Street Library was the only place she was allowed to go without her parents — and she could even stay there until 9 p.m. Almost 60 years later, Nelson regularly hops on her bicycle and heads over to the library or takes her dogs to the park, where she and her friends hung around as children. So when the city proposed to turn the library and park into a cultural arts district, Nelson realized her childhood haunt was in jeopardy. She and more than 100 residents came out Thursday to rally against the city’s possible plans to redevelop the area.

The Huntington Beach Downtown Residents Assn. will hold its second rally at 2 p.m. Sunday at Triangle Park and will unveil plans for a redesigned park and library. The association is a group of residents committed to saving Triangle Park and the Main Street Library and consequently halting any development above Orange Avenue. The association has been getting the word out for the last nine months and has collected about 6,000 signatures for a petition. The group held its first rally in June, and more than 100 residents came out. ?

I can?t believe the residents who live near Brethren Christian Junior and Senior High School are actually suing the city over the construction of a gymnasium (?Residents sue over Brethren expansion,? June 25). The residents allege they are concerned over the increase in traffic and noise that the gym will bring to their neighborhood. Were it not for the school, that land would have been developed long ago. Hundreds of additional cars would be driving in and out of their tract 24/7.

Residents’ researching the Downtown Specific Plan’s possible cultural center uncovered the Huntington Beach Marketing and Visitors Bureau’s almost five-month delay in conforming with the city’s Conflict of Interest Code. The bureau’s 14 board members and president are required by the city’s Conflict of Interest Code to complete a Form 700 Statement of Economic Interest and file it with the City Clerk. The forms are to disclose any financial interests, and are due April 1. The code is also imposed on other city officials by the state.

The Planning Commission made clear that it heard residents’ concerns and in a straw vote decided not to let Triangle Park and Main Street Library be developed into a cultural center at a public hearing Tuesday addressing changes to the Downtown Specific Plan. The commission passed a series of preliminary votes to preserve the park, limit the square footage allowance of the library, open up parking options in the area to more than just underground and allow a small cafe on the park.

FOR THE RECORD. . . . . In the Oct. 1 article ?Park defenders plan Sunday rally,? David Salkowitz was incorrectly identified as an architect. Salkowitz is a landscape architect.. . . . . . The Huntington Beach Downtown Residents Assn. will hold its second rally at 2 p.m. Sunday at Triangle Park and will unveil plans for a redesigned park and library. The association is a group of residents committed to saving Triangle Park and the Main Street Library and consequently halting any development above Orange Avenue.

Another group of residents bent against the Downtown Specific Plan update is going to make its voice heard at a rally at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Pier Plaza Amphitheater. The Huntington Beach Residents for A Balanced Downtown formed less than two weeks ago to combat not only the proposed cultural center in Triangle Park, but the update as a whole. The residents are taking issue with the plan’s proposal to put two tiered parking structures on the beach, increase development and allow more bars and restaurants in the downtown, said Richard Plummer , leader of the Residents for A Balanced Downtown.

Residents’ researching the Downtown Specific Plan’s possible cultural center uncovered the Huntington Beach Marketing and Visitors Bureau’s almost five-month delay in conforming with the city’s Conflict of Interest Code. The bureau’s 14 board members and president are required by the city’s Conflict of Interest Code to complete a Form 700 Statement of Economic Interest and file it with the City Clerk. The forms are to disclose any financial interests, and are due April 1. The code is also imposed on other city officials by the state.

Residents and city planners are going into the home stretch of the Downtown Specific Plan’s study sessions with two left before the proposed changes go before the Planning Commission for a public hearing. The update would consolidate the downtown from 11 separate districts to seven, and encompass the area south of Goldenwest Street and north of Beach Boulevard along the beach and up to Palm Avenue in the downtown area. From Sixth Street north, the plan extends up to Walnut Avenue.

The proposed cultural center in Triangle Park could play home to surfing and ocean-themed exhibits, a 350-person event space, and create more than $4.4. million a year in revenue, according to a draft study obtained by the Independent. The document, commissioned by the Huntington Beach Marketing & Visitors Bureau, is an analysis of the potential market demand, estimated revenue and the economic impact of a cultural center, and hasn’t been released to the public or responded to by the bureau, President and Chief Executive Steve Bone said.