HB residents: Don’t replace nursery center
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Some Huntington Beach residents are concerned that a proposal to replace a nursery with an RV storage lot behind their houses would attract coyotes and lower property values.
The Ward Garfield Specific Plan would turn a portion of land owned by Southern California Edison and used by the Village Nurseries Landscape Center into a storage lot with room for 557 recreational vehicles and a rental office.
Residents worry that when the nursery is replaced, it will drive coyotes into their neighborhood.
The nursery acts as a buffer zone for residents and provides coyotes with shelter and prey — the mice and rabbits that inhabit the nursery — said Tim Karpinski, a 20-year resident of Aragon Circle.
“We know that there’s coyotes down there because we hear them all the time,” Karpinski said. “If you take the food and habitat away, they have to go somewhere.”
The City Council postponed the item Monday at the request of the project’s applicant, Mike Adams, who had requested more time to look through a report submitted by residents and to review other items. Adams could not be reached for comment.
The council is expected to revisit the plan at 6 p.m. April 19.
So far, residents of Aragon Circle, the neighborhood behind the proposed RV lot, haven’t had the issues with coyotes that other residents near the wetlands are facing. Residents of the Bolsa Chica-Edinger tract have had their pets go missing and are worried for their own safety.
Besides the coyotes, residents said they are concerned with their quality of life, property values associated with housing RVs so close to their homes and under power lines.
A similar proposal went before the Orange Planning Commission in 2008 to allow an RV storage facility on Edison property next to residential properties. The proposal was denied for public safety reasons, according to Orange city documents. Los Angeles County also banned RV storage under high-voltage electrical lines in 2008.
“I think the precedents set by the city of Orange and Los Angeles County speak volumes,” said Debbi Henigman, an 18-year resident of Aragon Circle.
The storage unit is needed after the city passed regulations restricting on-street parking, according to city documents.
For more articles from The Huntington Beach Independent and its staff, visit www.hbindependent.com.
Tags: Aragon Circle, coyotes, Orange County Planning Commission, Southern California Edison, Tim Karpinski, Village Nurseries Landscape Center, Ward Garfield Specific Plan
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