Council OKs March vote on Wal-Mart

Eron Ben-Yehuda

Hoping to attract as many voters as possible, the City Council agreed

Monday to hold an election in March to decide whether Wal-Mart belongs in

the neighborhood.

Although a special election focusing solely on the retailer’s

controversial project could be held as early as January, the council, in

a 4-3 vote, took advantage of a provision in the election code that

permits pushing the date back if the city adds other issues on the

ballot.

That maneuver angered Mayor Peter Green who, along with councilmen Tom

Harman and Dave Sullivan, believed that Wal-Mart’s fate should be decided

on its own.

“We’re loading the ballot up now with a lot of garbage,” Green said.

The “garbage” specifically refers to the council adding an “advisory

vote” asking whether voters approve of using 50% of the sales tax income

the city will generate from the retailer’s business to help pay for

everything from a sports field to a senior center. Other questions may be

added to the ballot if the council so chooses, Deputy City Atty. Paul

D’Alessandro said.

Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff pointed out that the March 7 election,

which includes issues such as the presidential primary race that interest

a wide range of residents, will bring out the greatest number of voters.

“I can’t understand, with [more] people voting on this issue, what the

fear is,” she said. “You’re going to get the fairest election possible.”

Some doubted whether an election would even be held after Wal-Mart

developer, Arnel Retail Group, filed a lawsuit Aug. 30 challenging the

signature petition collected by residents that forced a ballot initiative

in the first place. But the council unanimously voted to hold the

election even if Arnel prevails in court.

The council refused, however, to freeze the city permit process for

building at the closed Crest View school site on Talbert Avenue by Beach

Boulevard, despite the possibility that Wal-Mart’s right to build may

“vest” if enough permits are issued. Vesting would allow the retailer to

be grandfathered in even though the initiative calls for rezoning the

area from commercial back to residential.

A moratorium on permits would send the wrong message to developers that

work in Huntington Beach, councilman Ralph Bauer said. And the council

felt reassured by a letter dated Monday from a Wal-Mart representative

promising not to build or demolish until after the election.

To ensure the demolition runs smoothly, the council took the unusual step

of placing 11 conditions on the removal and disposal of asbestos

contained in the 11 buildings on the site. The South Coast Air Quality

Management District typically controls that stage of development.