8 Myths about Downtown HB

MYTH 1)

Adding extra density will create a renaissance of retail stores and neighborhood services in DTHB. HB City Staff argues that Downtown needs future 4 to 5 story buildings and very high residential density (50 DU/Acre) to create enough demand to stimulate new retail stores. The city’s EIR estimates 648 new Dwelling Units (DU) will be developed in the Downtown core area. If the current 3-story height limit were to remain, about 448 DU would be developed. So does City Staff believes 200 more DU will cause a renaissance? There are currently over 7000 people who live within a 10 minute walk of Downtown, plus the 516 DU to be built two blocks away at Pacific City. The city has already failed at capturing the very high disposable income ($96,219) of these 7000 adjoining residents. Adding 200 more DU, and ruining the “Village Concept” with big boxy buildings will not stimulated retail development.

MYTH 2)

The existing buildings are blighted and not viable. HB City Staff believes that Main Street (north of Orange) and 5th Street (north of Walnut) is blighted and we must have new big boxy buildings with minimal parking, to create a viable neighborhood. Every retail space along Main Street north of Orange is occupied with viable tenants. Most of these businesses are neighborhood serving and bring HB locals to Downtown during non-peak times, creating a balanced Downtown. The City’s own Specific Plan (page 8-2) refers to these properties as “viable” but high density development is the only way to stimulate new development. The fact is these areas are not blighted. Let future development happen naturally, within the current scale of Downtown.

MYTH 3)

New 4 and 5 story buildings will blend into the Downtown Neighborhood. The 1983 Downtown Specific Plan established the concept that the tallest buildings would be situated at Main Street and PCH, and building heights would be reduced on city blocks moving north. Currently, three buildings along PCH are 4 storys. All buildings north of Walnut are 3 storys or less. The remaining sites for future development are skinny lots with alleys behind them. New 4 and 5 story buildings developed on these lots will seem out of scale and they will dwarf over the adjoining one and two story houses. It is not possible to build a 5 story on a small lot and have it blend into a “Village Concept” neighborhood.

MYTH 4)

Tourist will patronize shops 4 and 5 blocks from the beach. The city’s original plan was to have a large tourist destination on Triangle Park luring tourist to shops along north Main Street. The City has wisely abandoned this plan, yet they still plan on replacing the viable businesses along north Main Street without an anchor to draw shoppers. No new large garages are planned in north Main Street. So what will draw tourist to an area so far from parking and the beach? Sounds like a recipe for a ghost town during non-peak periods and many vacant retail shops.

MYTH 5)

The Updated Specific Plan will solve the current parking problems. The HB City staff assures us that new high-density development will provide adequate parking and help solve the shortage of parking during peak periods. In reality, for the past 12 years the city allows up to 50% of the required parking for new development to be excused by the city through a in-lieu parking fee. The city collects a low fee from the developer to build the parking in a future city garage. The city currently has a requirement to build 263 in-lieu parking spaces. According to the DTSP the city is planning on relying on the in-lieu parking program to subsidize the development costs for the new high-density buildings. The DTSP is eliminating the 2000 Parking Master Plan and has no plan to build a new city parking garage. As new development occurs along north Main Street, the convenient surface parking lots will be eliminated and replaced with under-parked high-density development. Neighborhood services will be substantially reduced because locals will not want to patronize shops with inconvenient paid parking. The best example of this is the new CVS Drug Store in The Strand. The Updated DTSP should have a plan to build a new city garage and provide convenient free short-term parking for neighborhood services.

MYTH 6)

Adding new Downtown restaurants and bars will increase city income. Restaurants and bars generate substantial sales tax and the HB Downtown District (with 55 of these establishments) generates some of the highest taxes in HB. The Updated Specific Plan continues this plan with over a 50% increase in the number of new restaurant and bars. The problem with this plan is restaurant/bars require expensive city services such as police, fire/paramedics, cleaning and maintenance. The HB City staff is only looking at the revenue projections and not the added costs to the city. Downtown restaurant/bars are also closing because of over-saturation, and increase security issues are scarring away many HB residents. The city needs to develop a new Downtown business plan that creates a balance between residents and tourist, and promotes new office and retail uses that creates a balance during peak and non-peak periods. If the city allows bars to continue to increase without limitation this ghost town will eventually be filled with the only thing that can make money in an area so saturated by bars that the local population avoids it, more bars. The atmosphere of the bars will drive out other business and the local population and the associated crime will creep into the neighborhood. Police services are being cut back and the DTSP states that almost no new police resources will be needed.

MYTH 7)

The City knows and understands the impact Pacific City will have on the Downtown neighborhood. Pacific City was planned and entitled during 2002 to 2005. The developer started construction on this very large 31 acre, 1,000,000 square foot development with a major hotel, restaurants and 516 DU. In 2007, the financing fell apart. Similar large developments are now selling for less than 50%, and it does not appear Pacific City will be completed for at least five years. When it is completed, who knows how it will be developed. Traffic studies, security issues, demands for city services, estimated retail sales, and parking studies, are educated estimates by experts, but until a massive project like this is developed and seasoned, know one really knows the impact it will have on the Downtown neighborhood. HB Neighbors is in favor of the development of Pacific City, but the city should delay planning high-density development along north Main Street until the impacts of Pacific City are understood.

MYTH 8 )

Downtown HB needs to turn into a destination center that is pedestrian friendly. The Updated DTSP wants to turn Downtown into a walkable tourist destination center. Downtown is already a successful pedestrian friendly commercial center with large parking facilities. Our beaches and pier are major destinations for tourist, and the adjoining commercial area services these tourist during peak periods. During non-peak periods the commercial district is empty. The Downtown neighborhood is the densest neighborhood in HB with high household incomes. Over 22,000 residence live within one mile of Downtown and many of these neighbors already walk or bicycle to the main Street area. If the city would focus on higher quality shops, family oriented entertainment, and a variety of neighborhood services, the residents would shop more Downtown while leaving their cars at home.

Richard Plummer

Director of HB Neighbors

HB has 2 parking issues in the downtown!

We have the current parking shortage spilling into the neighborhoods and we have the future impact that greater occupancy and new development will have on the existing problem.  The current parking shortfall needs to be dealt with and it will be difficult to solve. The future problem is preventable by actions we take now. We have the chance to prevent the city from allowing parking to worsen downtown.

HB Neighbors CEQA lawsuit is addressing the future impacts to prevent the parking problem from degrading. 

Parking demand is generated by increased development and higher densities.  When more buildings are built, higher building densities allowed, and higher levels of uses are created within the buildings, we referred to these as “Parking Demand Generators”.   If a new development is built with adequate parking on site there will still be more increased demand for street parking but, its impact will be minimal. When new parking generators are created a parking shortage occurs. 

The “tool box” or techniques that the city of HB uses to allow developers to build less parking are:

TOOL 1: PARKING IN LIEU PROGRAM

The parking in lieu program allows a developer to purchase up to 50% of the required parking from the city with the city supposedly creating this parking at another location.  As of Sept 2009 the city has collected fees for more than  263 parking spaces at an average of $4.5k per space.  The average cost to build a new parking space in our downtown is several times more (some say more than 10 times more) than the fees collected.  

TOOL 2: MIXED-USE REDUCED PARKING

Mixed-use reduced parking allows lower required parking under the theory that complimentary uses create parking demands at different times (eg. daytime office use above a nighttime restaurant use) The city of HB misuses this theory by purposing residential over restaurants. Both of these uses crate parking demand at the same time of the day. 

TOOL 3: VALET PARKING

Valet parking is purposed to add as much as 40% more parking spaces. In fact valet parking actually adds much lower additional parking and is not often available when actually needed. 

TOOL 4: THE OUTSIDE DINING LOOPHOLE

The outside dining loophole allows any restaurant to provide no parking for their outside dining areas provided they don’t exceed 20% of the restaurant area. Downtown HB has more outdoor dining area than any other commercial center in Southern California.  Outdoor dining is a wonderful experience, but it needs to have corresponding parking.

TOOL 5: TANDEM PARKING

Tandem parking is allowing one car to block in another car in certain situations.  This reduces the allotted square footage for isle  ways and increases the amount of parking spaces on a given square footage of garage.  The problem with tandem parking is that it is only fully utilized in a small number of cases.  Even in households with 2 bedrooms the tandem system quickly degrades if the residents have different working hours or other reasons why they are unable to be present for the twice daily car shuffle.  This results in one of the two cars frequently being parked on the street.

Richard Plummer

Nancy Williams wrote 2/23/2010 on HB Neighbors BLOG:

“Why aren’t you guys addressing this permit parking program that the city is putting in downtown? I live South of the numbered streets. I asked around and my neighbors do not want the drunks pushed into our neighborhoods. If the drunks don’t park in the city lot now, they will not after the numbered streets drive them out. These drunken 909 partiers are parking on the streets to avoid the 4 cops standing outside the city structure. They will not park in the lot. They will park in my neighborhood. I bought my home outside of the numbered streets to avoid these problems. Now this City program will push the problem into my neighborhood. THAT IS WRONG!”

Dear Nancy,  I recommend that residents’ attend the parking meeting at the Shorebreak Hotel at 6:30 pm March 4th,  so that they can understand the impact of what is being proposed.  Residents in the outlying areas but within walking distance of Downtown may not think this plan applies to them, but it may impact them.  

Any plan devised as a solution to the parking Downtown needs to be a comprehensive plan.  Pushing the problem around is not a solution.  Piecemeal solutions will benefit one neighborhood to the detriment of another, and that is not right.   The Old Town area (Alabama, Huntington, California for example) and Wesley Park (Main 600 to 1000, upper 11^th, 12^th and 13^th, Crest, Park, Pine) are within walking distance of Downtown and have had crimes in the past committed by people leaving the Downtown district intoxicated.  People intending to drink and drive are not likely to park in the structure.  Police Chef Small is scheduled to be one of the speakers at  the parking meeting and perhaps he can address the issues of the cost and feasibility of patrolling a larger area. 

Richard Plummer

HB Neighbors is the ONLY democratic residence organization in Downtown HB representing the interests of its members.  We are proud to introduce our 2010 ELECTED Board Of Directors.

If you did not join HB Neighbors JOIN NOW! and have your voice heard.

The following candidates were elected to the HB Neighbors Board of Directors by democratic, cumulative vote of the general membership:    

Andre Faubert   
Angela Rainsberger   
David Rice   
Dave Sullivan   
Richard Plummer

The members ranked the ballot issues in order of importance:    

1st: Reduce density to 25 dwelling units per acre and reduce building heights to 3-story.    
2nd: Limit the expansion of bars.    
3rd: Institute parking improvements.    
4th: Create neighborhood services overlay north of Orange Ave.    
5th: Add additional police services serving District 1.    
6th: Limit the community theatre to 99 seats at the library site, with no new parking. 

Members also made use of the write-in option to add issues of their own. While these write-ins primarily referred to parking issues and the desire to have Popcorn Sundays, several others were brought up as well. The newly elected board will be sharing and addressing each issue at the next member meeting. Once again, thank you for your participation in active citizenship by being a member of HB Neighbors.

If you did not register to vote please do so you can vote on our next ballot.