HB Neighbors

We are happy to announce that Angela Rainsberger, one of our founding members and an elected director of HB Neighbors, has been appointed to the City of Huntington Beach Investment Advisory Board by Council Member Joe Shaw, and has become an elected director of Huntington Beach Tomorrow.  We welcome her active participation on both boards, and view her participation as beneficial to our organization, as it helps our group have a voice in broader City issues that may ultimately impact our goals for the Downtown.

The City of HB responded to HBN’s opening brief (you can see the City’s reply by clicking here).

In a nutshell, the City disagreed with our position and sited various legal arguments that include they did a “credible” analysis of the impacts and worked with the residents to develop the downtown plan. We are in the process of finishing our final response which is due later this month and then we head to court which is scheduled for Thursday March 17th. Ultimately it will be a judge who decides if it was proper.

We thank you for your continued support. The Huntington Beach Neighbors organization has grown to over 2000 members that include residents, property owners and business owners. We all foster a vision to make downtown a safe place that we are proud of.

From the LA Times / HB Independent -

Huntington Beach ranked No. 1 among California cities of its size in per-capita alcohol-related traffic collisions in 2009, according to numbers recently released by the state Office of Traffic Safety.

The report, which came out in January, ranks Huntington above 55 other cities with a population between 100,000 and 250,000. A total of 195 people were killed or injured in alcohol-related collisions, according to the report.

Huntington has been in the top 10 for per-capita DUI accidents for the last half-decade, ranking sixth in 2005, eighth in 2006, seventh in 2007 and fourth in 2008.

Lt. Russell Reinhart of the Huntington Beach Police Department said the city was aware its DUI accident numbers were high in 2009, but the ranking came as a surprise.

“I don’t think we knew we were No. 1,” he said. “We knew our numbers were high.”

Read the entire article here.

Dear Fellow HB Neighbors,

There is a lot going on in our town over the next few months. Since we are all so very busy, we thought we’d take some time to quickly summarize the important issues. By taking less than 5 minutes to read this, you will be in-the-know about the various City ballot measures as well as Huntington Beach Neighbors litigation against the City.

First, Huntington Beach neighbors continues to press ahead with our CEQA lawsuit against the City in relation to the Downtown Specific Plan Update. We are finalizing our opening brief and will make it public once it has been filled. Our trial date has moved to February 17^th, both sides agreed that there was more time needed to review the voluminous documents. Without giving away the details of our arguments, we continue to find supporting materials that the City did not properly analyze and disclose the negative impacts associated with a larger/more dense downtown. We continue to fund this costly litigation out of our own pockets and appreciate the financial support from the community, please keep it coming (see www.huntingtonbeachneighbors.com to make a contribution).

Next, there are several major local HB measures on the ballot. Perhaps you are wondering what they mean and who’s opinion to trust. We have thoroughly read each of the measures and would be happy to try and help or direct you to the right place in the event you have a question. Below is our analysis and opinion:

Measure N makes changes to the City’s charter that for the most part are benign and brings it up to date. While there are some items that could be construed as negative, for the most part it is a good update and good for residents and will allow the City to run more like a business. This is a YES vote, read more about it here N Huntington Beach Charter Amendment Measure

Measure O aims to close a loophole in a prior 2002 voter approved measure that has allowed the City to count debt service (interest) or other indirect costs toward the required minimum 15% allotment toward infrastructure improvements (streets, alleys, storm drains, sidewalks, etc). Supporters of Measure O report that since 2002, $55 million dollars that should have gone toward infrastructure has been used to pay interest or other indirect costs that should have come from the general fund. Opponents are using scare tactics stating that Police and Fire services “could” be reduced.

Here are our thoughts on why this is a YES vote.

• It was the original will of the voters to ensure that the City uses 15% of the general fund to improve infrastructure – not use the money to service debt.
• The residents deserve to see some of their tax dollars at work and put to improvements that we all see and experience everyday, not to debt.
• Every year the City wastes countless amounts of money on pet projects that do not help the tax paying residents (Beach Edinger Corridor, Downtown Specific Plan, etc. are some recent examples, not to mention massive amount on avoidable litigation). A YES vote will reduce the extra money the City appears to have in its possession to spend on these types of projects. Perhaps it will force the City Leaders to be more frugal. Let’s spend what we have. If we don’t have it, don’t spend it.
• We do not believe Police and Fire services will be impacted – we believe this is a scare tactic and there are other places that can and will be cut before these services.

Read for yourselves here: O Huntington Beach Charter Amendment Section 617 Measure

Measure P is really difficult to understand and we believe is presented in a manner to confuse voters. It is a 25 page resolution/ordinance/opinion that shows a slight tax percentage decrease (the incentive), however it appears that the tax has been expanded to other services which would likely lead to more taxes. It is understandable that the City needs taxes, and in theory we’re okay with some increase, however this measure is deceitful in its presentation and for that reason alone, it is a definite NO vote. Read for yourself here P Huntington Beach Utility User’s Tax Measure

Measure Q is asking for voter approval to place Cell Phone Towers in a few locations that are close to schools and parks. There’s no hidden agenda on this measure, it is pretty simple and something we should help out our neighbors on. We certainly wouldn’t want a cell tower in our nearby park or school so lets support our neighbors and vote NO. You can read more here Q Huntington Beach Wireless Communications Measure Q Huntington Beach Wireless Communications Measure

Lastly with the upcoming election, Hunting Beach Neighbors is a non-profit organization and we are not able to endorse candidates as a group. That said, the following statements are made on behalf of Richard Plummer, David Rice & Angela Rainsberger as individuals.

We as individuals endorse the following candidates because we believe they represent the general interests of making HB a place for “Local’s” again:

Joe Shaw
Blair Farley
Connie Boardman
Bill Rorick

The only council member who is up for re-election is Joe Carchio. It is our personal opinion that Mr Carchio is bad for HB. In our opinion, he does not support the will of the people. In addition, there are several allegations of misappropriate actions including using tax payer money to pay for medial insurance for his x-wife.

As always, we welcome and encourage your feedback at www.huntingtonbeachneighbors.com and Facebook.

Blair Farley who is running for a seat on HB City Council recently posted a note on his Facebook page saying Triangle Park was close to becoming an “official” park.

Blair referenced that it was on the HB Community Services Commission agenda last week. Triangle Park and the downtown Library have been a hot topic as part of the DTSP (Downtown Specific Plan Update).

I called and spoke with David Dominguez who is the manager of HB Facilities, Development & Concessions to get the details. David explained that the Community Services Commission DID recommend that Triangle Park be added to the list of the city’s green space inventory and officially be made a park. He explained that this came up because the city was in the process of working on a major amendment to the general plan to account for, and adopt all the green space that will be produced by the Sunset Beach annexation (if the annexation happens). They decided to add Triangle Park to the list because of overwhelming community support and the fact that it would be easy to do as part of this general plan amendment.

The next step is for the planning commission to recommend the proposed changes to the general plan.

Then the general plan goes to the City Council for their approval/adoption.

They (the PC or City Council) can make changes to the plan which could exclude Triangle Park from the list (not sure why they would do that).

I specifically asked if Triangle Park would then be protected by Measure C and David Dominguez said once it is part of the parks inventory, it would indeed become covered by measure C.

It is worth noting that library construction on parkland does not require a citywide vote. Hence, even with Triangle Park as an official park, it is possible that the City could build a performing arts venue and an unknown number of supporting parking spaces. By calling the project a cultural center and library expansion, there can be an avoidance of a Measure C vote.

A city attorney last year pointed out that Measure C was in place when the Central Library was expanded as a Cultural Center with added parking at Central Park in 1994. No Measure C vote was taken.

However, all-in-all this sounds positive for all (residents and city folks) who have worked hard and persevered to preserve the park and library.

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

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.

Citing the number of driving under the influence offenses in Huntington Beach compared with the cities of similar size, the department wants to send a clear message about enforcement.

By Britney Barnes, britney.barnes@latimes.com

The Huntington Beach Police Department is considering posting the names of drunk-driving offenders on its website as part of a stepped-up strategy to address DUIs downtown and citywide.

Police submitted a report this month to the City Council identifying drinking and driving as a “significant problem” in Surf City and detailed proposed strategies for preventing and reducing the crime.

Tactics already include notifying establishments where those arrested for DUI had their last drink, DUI checkpoints and participating in Every 15 Minutes programs in schools. And police are asking the city to fund a third motorcycle officer for its DUI enforcement team.

Posting offenders’ names online would take enforcement into the digital age. Department officials did not know how many other Orange County cities, if any, posted suspected offenders’ names online.

“DUIs are a public-safety issue,” said police Lt. Russell Reinhart. “Public awareness of the problem, and scope of the problem, is one way of addressing any public-safety concern.”

The Police Department considered publishing the names of those arrested for DUI after the Huntington Beach Independent stopped publishing a weekly DUI list in December, according to the city report. The Independent decided to ax the standing feature after a change in editorial policy.

The department is considering posting the names, which are public record, online, not to embarrass people, but to send a message that Huntington is enforcing DUIs, he said.

“It’s not a wall of shame we’re looking to put up,” Reinhart said.

For the last three years, on average, the department has made 1,700 DUI arrests a year.

Huntington’s DUI rate was the third-highest for cities with similar populations in 2008, according to the report.

“We have a murder once every couple of years in Huntington Beach, but we have a dozen or so people killed in alcohol-related crashes every year,” Reinhart said.

However, Huntington still has the fourth-highest number of alcohol-related traffic collisions for its population, which is estimated at more than 201,000, according to the report.

Reinhart said officers are trying to focus on being proactive instead of reactive when it comes to drinking and driving.

“We’re trying to actually stop the problem before it happens,” he said. “We see it as a problem, the council sees it as a problem, the residents see it as a problem. We’re doing what we can to stop the problem rather than just react to the problem.”

The Police Department in March began tracking where those arrested on suspicion of drunken driving had their last drink. Police compiled the data and then began notifying the managers of those businesses on a monthly basis to inform them that they may have been over-serving customers.

The hope, Reinhart said, is that the establishments take action by serving fewer drinks and directing intoxicated patrons to taxis.

“There’s an expectation that they don’t serve people to the point of intoxication,” he said.

In a period from March 1 to June 30, the highest number of DUI arrestees claimed to have had their last drink at two Main Street restaurants. Fourteen arrestees claimed to have their last drinks at Baja Sharkeez, while eight said they were at Hurricanes Bar & Grill.

Ron Newman, a partner in Sharkeez, said his restaurant doesn’t serve those who are obviously intoxicated, will pay cab fare for those who cannot drive and serves free soft drinks to designated drivers.

But at the end of the night, Sharkeez can’t control what people do when they leave, he added.

“We can only control what goes on in our store,” Newman said. “We don’t know what’s going on after.”

Newman said he visited the Huntington Beach location after receiving notification from the Police Department to review guidelines with staff and make sure all rules were being followed.

Hurricanes General Manager Kerry Lovett said the restaurant also doesn’t serve those who are obviously intoxicated, offers designated drivers free sodas, directs patrons to taxis outside and puts all servers through an alcohol-training program.

Lovett said he posts the notifications for his staff to remind them that selling an extra $5 drink isn’t as important as making sure the customers are safe and that they come back; they won’t if they get a DUI after leaving.

“Whatever we can do to support the P.D. and stop this happening, we’re more than willing,” he said.

The department has seen a relationship between the increase of alcohol licenses and the increase in DUI arrests, Reinhart said.

The arrest tracking so far “supports our belief that there is a link between the two,” he said.

It’s the city that has a DUI problem, but the problem is concentrated downtown, Reinhart said.

The area, which is popular with tourists who crowd the street for events like this weekend’s U.S. Open of Surfing, as well as locals, has become a problem over the last decade for residents and police, due to the number of visitors flooding the city on weekends and during the summer to drink.

The 2.4-square-mile downtown makes up about 1.5% of the city, but has 11% of calls to police.

Officers in 2009 arrested 900 people — 600 of them for alcohol- and drug-related crimes — downtown, Police Chief Ken Small said at a meeting on the downtown parking problems in March.

About 19% of the city’s liquor licenses are issued to downtown businesses, according to the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) records.

The area has seen a “considerable increase” in alcohol licenses over the past decade, Reinhart said.

Downtown is known for its bar scene, but there is actually only one true bar, Perqs — which hasn’t given officials too much trouble, Reinhart said. The other 42 establishments with licenses are classified as restaurants because they serve food, he said.

Reinhart said many of the establishments are responsible and haven’t been a problem, but there has been a pattern of fights, disturbances and drunken driving from a few, he said.

Some residents fear the number of venues able to sell alcohol has grown to such an extent that police no longer have the resources or manpower to handle the situation, said David Rice, a downtown resident and president of Huntington Beach Neighbors, a grassroots organization dedicated to reducing density and limiting the expansion of bars.

“I’m not blaming the police,” he said. “I think they have too much to do. Too many bars, I think, is the issue.”

Rice said he isn’t calling for a decrease in alcohol establishments, just more responsible patrons, but some residents want the city to crack down on the number of liquor licenses.

Downtown resident Kirk Mason said there has been too much growth when it comes to liquor licenses. The father of two said he is worried about his children driving around the area. Mason said he warns his 17-year-old son to avoid driving in the downtown area after 10 p.m. and has him call before he drives home to estimate an arrival time.

“I’m in favor of stopping additional liquor licenses in the city,” he said of the about 220 licenses citywide, adding that the 43 downtown are “pretty crazy.”

Mayor Cathy Green said the City Council doesn’t really have a say over liquor licenses, because they are under the purview of the ABC.

“We can do certain things, but we really don’t oversee the ABC licenses,” she said.

By the numbers

•Huntington Beach has about 220 establishments with active liquor licenses.

• More than 200 of those licenses are for restaurants.

• 53 were approved before 2000.

• 26 are on Main Street.

• Only one establishment, the Huntington Beach Beer Co. at 201 Main St., is licensed as a general brew-pub.

• The Huntington Harbour Yacht Club and the Elks Lodge 1959 have club liquor licenses.

Source: All information from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control records.

One of our neighbors and a member of HB Neighbors sent us this posting about parking in front of his house.

Kirk of 11^th Street went on to say:

On Saturday my son was leaving to go to a friend’s house and noticed that his left rear taillight was cracked. Parking was crazy early in the morning. There was no available parking and the cars that were fortunate to have a space were jammed so close together they couldn’t safely get out of their spots. Unfortunately this is a common occurrence and people are forced to play bumper cars to get in and out of spaces. My son’s car was damaged as a result. We are not sure what type of vehicle was parked behind my sons Honda Element, but it was high enough to miss the bumper but hit the tail light. Of course after they damaged the car they did not leave a note.

We hung out in the front yard quite a bit Sunday and Monday and witnessed vehicles bump others a few times, cramming both small cars and large SUV’s into the unmarked spots.

Having marked parking spots like 5^th & 6^th St would prevent most of the damage issues. But we still don’t have enough parking to support all the visitors who want to get to the beach or visit downtown.

HOW WILL TRUCKS UNLOADING BEER KEGS BEHIND YOUR HOME IMPACT YOUR LIFE?

The Approved Downtown Plan Specific Plan (DTSP) allows for 45-foot buildings with high densities to be built adjacent to homes and share alleys with existing residences. Residents who live on 6th Street, 3rd street, 2nd street (and others) will have to contend with sharing alleys with active businesses that receive daily truck deliveries of food, kegs & other supplies.

Have you ever stood in the alley’s behind main Main Street businesses and smelled the stench coming from the restaurant dumpsters? If this was your alley would you open your windows? Read more…