ARTIST’S RENDERING of the proposed Huntington’s restaurant on the city pier (City of HB).

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

Another place to eat and perhaps fewer places to buy tobacco.

That’s what the Huntington Beach City Council voted for Tuesday.

The council approved and authorized a lease agreement with the State Lands Commission and an agreement with the California Coastal Commission that clears the way for a new restaurant to be called “Huntington’s” on the municipal pier.

Approvals at the city level have already been secured. Originally approved in 2022 was a conditional use permit for the construction of a 250-foot kitchen addition and two outdoor dining patios totaling 620 square feet to an existing building.

In another major action, the council gave second and final approval to zoning text amendments intended to keep smoke shops from being too accessible to younger people.

The new regulations limit the construction of new smoke and tobacco stores to commercial areas, and none in residential zones. Also required is that all such shops have a minimum of a 1,000-foot separation from hospitals, or “youth-populated areas,” which would include schools, child care facilities, libraries, parks and youth centers.

The regulations also require all smoke shops in Huntington Beach to put up two specific signs in the front of their stores.

One sign is a notice that all children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to enter the store. The second has a phone number on it, where unlawful tobacco sales can be reported.