EDITORIAL:Pier shops should stay

As city leaders consider improving the Huntington Beach Pier, we’re reminded of what Bertrand Russell once said: “Change is one thing, progress is another.”

We hail the city for finally building some permanent structures for businesses on the pier. That’s no slight on the Surf City Store, Let’s Go Fishin’ and the Kite Connection. They should be applauded for putting up their portables and generating some business there. And they’ve done it for more than 10 years.

They have more than earned the right to stay there. Fortunately, city leaders appear to agree.

But there’s always a price for progress. And like any gentrified neighborhood, these businesses might not be able to afford the rent.

City Council members ought to do what they can to make sure those businesses already on the pier have a fighting chance to stay there. After all, these businesses have already invested in the city, and now it’s Huntington Beach’s turn to repay the favor.

“They came forward with the money all on their own and paid for the [portable] structures [on the pier] themselves,” Jim Engle, the city’s community services director, told council members.

The council also seems to want to add a coffee and food stand to the pier. That sounds fine with us, but we bet they’ll have a tough time competing with Ruby’s Diner.