Downtown Described as ‘Blighted’ : New Group Favors Huntington Beach Redevelopment

A group has been formed to support redevelopment in downtown Huntington Beach and promote the elimination of what is described as its “blighted condition.”

City Councilman Don MacAllister, who founded Huntington Beach Together three weeks ago, said the group will support candidates who favor redevelopment and attempt to counteract the influence of Huntington Beach Tomorrow, a citizens group formed last month.

“We must not be fooled by the semantics of various groups which support redevelopment but want to scale it back,” MacAllister said Friday.

Huntington Beach Tomorrow supports “reasonable growth” and opposes extensive redevelopment downtown, said steering committee member Donald Shipley. The downtown area is already “nothing but a sea of rooftops, with the only open space being in the alleys,” said Shipley, a former mayor of Huntington Beach.

MacAllister said Huntington Beach Together has applied for status as a political action committee. Although the group would not contribute funds directly to candidates, MacAllister said, it would conduct a mass-mailing campaign for the Nov. 4 election in support of City Council candidates who favor redevelopment.

The group will also work against the election of Tom Livengood, Rick Rowe and Grace Winchell, three planning commissioners running for the council who have the endorsement of Huntington Beach Tomorrow, MacAllister said.

MacAllister says that the “blighted condition” downtown has led to drug trafficking, increased crime and parking problems.

“There’s been more than enough studies in the past six years,” MacAllister said. “It is now the time to move forward.”