Huntington Beach leaders are looking to change who decides when residents get to change the zoning code, asking their staff to come back with a menu of options that will likely include bringing more projects in front of the city’s planning commission for approval.
The changes come as several city council members claim their zoning administrator, a member of city staff, is approving zoning variances and conditional use permits that negatively impact neighborhoods without thinking enough about the impacts.
Councilman Pat Burns, who proposed the shift, said his biggest concerns were around the administrator approving major projects in residential neighborhoods.
“It’s mainly the overbuilding that I’m concerned with,” Burns said at the council’s Tuesday night meeting. “We have to put the community before the development and the developers.”
The proposal also comes as a judge has revoked the city’s power to turn down new housing developments that meet the state’s minimum density requirements amid a yearslong legal battle over the city’s lack of a housing plan.
[Read: Judge Orders Huntington Beach to Adopt Housing Plan]
Currently, the zoning administrator’s rulings can be appealed, but it can cost residents over $5,000 to file an appeal unless a member of the planning commission or city council does it for them.
The proposal for changes to the administrator’s role faced pushback from most public commenters during Tuesday’s council meeting, with some residents calling it a “power grab” that would encourage local developers or businesses to donate to city council members’ campaigns to get their projects approved.
Max Daffron, CEO of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, also flagged some concerns on how the changes could impact businesses looking to change their zoning.
“For businesses, the zoning administrator process offers a more efficient and predictable path to approval,” Daffron said. “I believe the way the item is written as presented could unintentionally hinder the ability of new businesses to enter our marketplace.”
While council members didn’t vote on any official changes, most of them said they wanted to make it easier for businesses to get approval but harder for changes in residential neighborhoods.
Mayor Casey McKeon and Councilmembers Chad Williams, Andrew Gruel and Gracey Van Der Mark brought up concerns that any immediate changes could cause more harm than good.
“It just kind of feels like a solution that creates perhaps a bigger problem, it’s more of a burden on our residents,” Williams said.
“I’d like to take some time to explore this,” Van Der Mark said. “I don’t want to disrupt it right now.”
Ultimately, city council members unanimously agreed to have city staff come back with some proposals next month to reevaluate what processes the city administrator can handle and what things the planning commission should immediately take over.
Burns pushed back on any delays, saying he wanted it dealt with as soon as possible.
“I’m very concerned with neighborhoods … a lot of flippers do this kind of crap,” Burns said. “You should try to melt into the community instead of changing it.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.