Council approves Ripcurl project

After a six-hour meeting in front of a packed room that had dozens of members of the public speaking their mind, the Huntington Beach City Council has approved a controversial development next to Bella Terra that would put 385 luxury apartments above 10,000 square feet of retail.

Council members compromised on the number of units allowed in the Ripcurl, picking a staff recommendation of 385 rather than the 440 requested by the developer or the 330 required by the Planning Commission in recent months. Still, none of those numbers changed the size of the overall project — six stories — but just the number of rooms inside. And either way, the final project was the densest, by units per acre, ever approved in Huntington Beach.

The final vote was 7-0 to approve city staff’s report on the Ripcurl’s environmental impact, and 6-1 to approve a permit for the project. Only Councilwoman Jill Hardy voted no, saying residents against it weren’t being listened to and she feared the city might be leaping into too much too soon in its plans to revitalize the area.

The Ripcurl’s high-end apartments will appeal to young professionals, such as those just starting at Boeing or some teachers at Golden West College, said Andrew Nelson, project manager of Red Oak Investments, the developer. As for the city, it will be a demonstration of certified “green” building that also helps transform a strip of Edinger Avenue that has decaying strip malls, he said.

“It gets you this mixed-use area around Bella Terra which will help strengthen that area, Nelson said. “This is a textbook example of smart growth.”

Among public speakers, there was a clear divide in opinion: Nearby business owners tended to support the Ripcurl as a first step in transforming the area, while a larger group of residents and homeowners strongly opposed it, saying they feared traffic, crime, pollution and other impacts from the many high-density projects planned for that stretch of Edinger Avenue, which will lead to thousands of new residents in the area.

“You’re going to make a mini city here,” resident Robert Sternberg said. “Do we want a mini Manhattan in the center of our beach community?”

“We don’t have community desire to support this,” said Monica Hamilton, representing local issues group Huntington Beach Tomorrow. “We like our community the way that it is.”

But council members said the community was going to need projects like the Ripcurl over the decades to come, for reasons ranging from a changing market to rising gas prices. And they said Edinger Avenue was the place that would hurt residents the least.

“If there’s a place for density in Huntington Beach, it’s adjacent to the 405, separated from residential neighborhoods with a college, with destination retail and the potential for transit,” Councilman Don Hansen said. “California will absolutely have to come to grips with this …. The council and community are on the right path to come up with forward thinking solutions that actually put Huntington Beach in front of the curve instead of behind the curve.”

Still, even with this victory for Red Oak Investments, officials said they were unsure when — or even whether — the tight credit market would grant them a loan on construction. Nelson said he was hoping for a change in the financial world over the next 12 to 18 months, but Cook said she wasn’t so sure.

“I’m concerned it may never get built,” she said. “I don’t see an end to this recession we’re going into. I hope you’re able to get financing you need. I’ll still hope you’ll be able to move something forward.”

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at [email protected].