Senior center can move forward (Article from LA Times)

However, Court of Appeals is requiring a supplemental environmental impact report and general plan amendments.

By Britney Barnes, britney.barnes@latimes.com
December 14, 2010 | 11:50 a.m.
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The Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Huntington Beach could go ahead with a $22-million senior center in Huntington Central Park and use money from the Pacific City project to fund it, officials said.

The court also upheld the vote of the people to allow the center to be build built in the park, City Atty. Jennifer McGrath said in a statement.

"I am pleased to report the Court of Appeals issued a favorable ruling in the senior center case today," she said.

The court ruled, though, that the city must create a supplemental environmental impact report for the project and amend its general plan to make the project compliant.

The city is looking into the deadline for filing an appeal on the decision, according to the statement.

Orange County Superior Court Judge David C. Velasquez originally ruled that the city was in violation of its general plan and the California Environmental Quality Act after the Parks Legal Defense Fund, a citizens group, filed a lawsuit challenging the project in March 2008.

Velazquez also found the use of the entire $22 million from Pacific City, a stalled project on Pacific Coast Highway that would bring a hotel, residential, retail and restaurant facilities together, to be a violation of a state act.
The Pacific City funds are being used under the Quimby Act, a state law that sets aside money to preserve open space, establish recreational facilities or fund other facilities for Pacific City residents to use. The judge originally found that funding the entire project with Quimby Act dollars did not fully comply with the requirements of the state act.

The city appealed that decision in July, according to court records.
The new senior center, a 45,000-square-foot, one-story facility, is to be built on a 5-acre section of Huntington Central Park to replace the existing Michael E. Rodgers Seniors' Center on Orange Avenue.

The project was approved by voters in November 2006 and originally slated for completion in April 2011.

General Information
On November 7, 2006, voters approved the construction of a new senior center in Huntington Central Park (HCP). The building will be approximately 45,000 square feet, which is equivalent to approximately one acre. The entire site, including landscaping, building, and parking, will encompass five acres. The five-acre parcel is located on an undeveloped section of HCP that is fourteen acres in size. The proposed site is on the west side of Goldenwest Street north of the HCP Disc Golf Course.

The new senior center has received approval for its Conditional Use Permit and Environmental Impact Report. There has been a legal challenge by a citizen's group, but the City is still proceeding with the project. The city is currently working with a consultant on the plan to create an enhanced habitat on the five acres to the north of the proposed senior center. Both sites, the senior center and the enhanced habitat, are proposed for undeveloped park. Makar still has the responsibility to design and build the senior center to city specifications

A copy of the approved Final Environmental Impac Report (EIR) is available on the Planning Department website. Click link below to view.