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Archive for August, 2010

HB Neighbors Litigation

August 14, 2010 1 comment

A Huntington Beach grassroots organization that wants to limit growth downtown and the number of liquor licenses is moving forward with litigation against a project that will increase development, with a trial date this winter.

The Huntington Beach Neighbors filed a lawsuit against the city in December claiming officials violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not adequately analyzing the impacts the Downtown Specific Plan will have on downtown residents. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to court Jan. 13.

The Neighbors contend officials didn’t complete a proper environmental impact report (EIR), which analyzes the effects the project will have, and want it redone with a new project that reflects more accurate findings.

“We want the city to do proper due diligence,” said Neighbor President David Rice.

The Downtown Specific Plan is a long-range planning document that dictates building and parking specifications and design guidelines and will increase development over the next 20 years.

The group asserts the report did not fully take into account the changes the plan will have on parking, traffic, noise, water and public services, according to the lawsuit.

“The project’s EIR fails to provide adequate information and adequate analysis of the significant adverse environmental impacts associated with this project,” according to the lawsuit. To read the full lawsuit, go to http://www.hbneighbors.com.

See the full story by By Britney Barnes at

at http://www.hbindependent.com/news/tn-hbi-0812-downtown-20100804,0,3366426.story

Easily See Crime Statistics Here

August 9, 2010 Leave a comment

Here is a cool site that one of our members forwarded to us. The site easily shows crime stats, simply enter your address and or zip code. You can see Downtown has been a hotbed of activity with many calls that included assaults with deadly weapons, thefts, breaking and entering, robbery, etc. http://www.crimereports.com

Trial Date Set For Downtown HB CEQA Lawsuit – City Rejects Residents Suggestions

August 2, 2010 3 comments

HB Neighbors take their fight to protect their neighborhood to the courts

Several months ago Huntington Beach Neighbors and our attorneys got together with the City of HB for a court mandated settlement meeting. In that meeting we reiterated that litigation was a last resort and it was our goal that the City would compromise by rescinding some of the more aggressive and extreme changes that would be allowed for Downtown under the new plan. You can see our list of considerations here.

We were told that the information would be passed along to the HB City Council for their review. After a few months without a response, our attorney’s contacted the Assistant City Attorney who told us that the HB City Council rejected our considerations and would not provide any counter proposal. They basically gave us the finger. While we were disappointed, it came as no surprise considering the manner in which the voting majority of the City Council operated throughout the DTSP hearings.

For those of you that have made it to downtown this summer, you can probably sense things ratcheting up a few notches past safe and comfortable. Now imagine a much larger downtown with 4-story buildings that extend further into the neighborhood with more mayhem.

There are many City leaders who believe that a BIGGER downtown means BETTER and we should just accept it. We say NO and hope that you will continue to support our grassroots effort to help protect downtown and our neighborhoods. We are not trying to stop progress or development, we just want it be a reasonable balance.

The trial date (hearing on the petition) is January 13, 2011 at 9am at Orange County Court, 751 W. Santa Ana Blvd, Santa Ana – House-Civil Complex Center — Department CX105. Mark your calendar as you are welcome and encouraged to attend.

We continue to fund this costly lawsuit with limited donations and resources. If you live, work or play in downtown, your contributions to help protect the area are much appreciated.  Protecting downtown and our neighborhoods will not happen without active support from you.

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