Huntington Beach City Council members are about to decide if one of their vendors can sell alcohol out of snack shacks owned by the city at a public sports park that sits right next to playgrounds.
The proposal from Huntington Beach Sports Complex LLC, the vendor that manages the snack shacks, would set up an outdoor bar and dining area at both snack shacks that ends just a few feet away from playgrounds at both sites.
The vendor has already added branding to both snack shacks declaring they carry craft beer and concessions, and menus submitted to the city include a host of food options such as smashburgers, Detroit style pizza slices and wings.
“We feel that the best Sports Complex in the country needs to have the best hospitality in the country,” company leaders wrote in their proposal to city leaders. “Huntington Beach has a very popular craft beer scene, with notable breweries pouring some of the most inventive and award winning brews that our visitors would enjoy.”
Huntington Beach City Council members publicly meet to consider the proposal at 6 p.m. tonight.
The snack stand has already made a gross revenue of over $330,000 this year according to financial disclosures from the city, with just under $13,000 of that going to the city as rent.
Right now, only one of the two concession stands is open, the other hosting a cracked window and warnings about water shutoffs on the door, but under their lease agreement with the city, the vendor plans to reopen that location.
With the expansion to serve alcohol, the company is looking to add more outdoor seating and a bar area that will be “full service,” though it’s unclear from the proposal what that would entail, with their proposed staffing plan including two “food/bev runner” positions and one “cashier/service window” job per snack shack.
There would also be televisions showing live games and food delivery to the fields, though alcoholic beverages would not be included in the delivery option.
The proposal would also add bar seating that wraps around the patio, stopping just a few feet short of the playground based on the company’s renderings.
But the company has faced growing questions during zoning hearings and at the city’s planning around whether it’s appropriate to have a bar so close to a playground.
Planning Commissioner Tracy Pellman, who was appointed by Councilman Casey McKeon, raised concerns that children like her grandkids might slip into the bar area or try to climb over the fences around the bar.
“I have eight grandchildren, two of them are toddlers, and I guarantee with what you describe they would be climbing on it, putting their arms through it, all of that,” Pellman said at the board’s Aug. 5 special meeting discussing the project.
The city’s finance commission also just sent a letter to city council members questioning if they’re earning too little off the sports park and other city leased properties under their current deals, including the yacht club, the Meadowlark golf course, the equestrian center and their frisbee golf course.
“We suggest these five to begin with because they are some of the biggest, most valuable assets the city owns and also, through the Finance Commission cursory investigation of these properties, they all seem to be under producing for the value of the asset,” commissioners wrote.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
