HUNTINGTON BEACH CIVIC CENTER (Orange County Tribune photo).
By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune
There was a light crowd in the council chambers at a special meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council on Monday afternoon.
Missing were the dozens who usually show up at these meetings for these often contentious events – only seven speakers came forth – and also missing were three members of the council.
Councilmembers Rhonda Bolton, Dan Kalmick and Natalie Moser were absent when the council that remained – Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark, Mayor Pro Tem Pat Burns and Councilmembers Casey McKeon and Tony Strickland – voted to submit a controversial charter amendment to voters in the Nov. 5, 2024 general election.
The measure, termed “relating to environmental protection,”
would require that certain zoning changes and general plan amendments initiated by the city would go before voters for approval.
It goes on to state, “The proposed Charter Amendment should include language to the effect of ‘City Planning and Zoning is a local, “municipal affair,” beyond the reach of State control or interference; and City Planning and Zoning is a local activity reserved for the City and its people, and not the State.’”
Monday’s action is the latest in the feud between the State of California and the conservative majority on the council over Surf City’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment, which would require Huntington Beach to zone for – but not necessarily build – over 13,000 more housing units.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is set for Tuesday, July 16.