Huntington Beach’s Pacific Airshow will move ahead this year after the California Coastal Commission required the air show’s operators to offer more public access than they originally planned to the public beachfront.
The deal comes after city council members signed a controversial legal settlement with the airshow’s operators guaranteeing them millions of dollars in direct payouts along with guaranteed access to city parking lots, police resources and the beach for free.
[Read: How Did a Huntington Beach Air Show Become Embroiled in Controversy and Politics?]
This year, the airshow was set to close off large portions of the beach and the pier that would then be sold for anywhere from $55 to $3,500, which raised red flags at the Coastal Commission.
“The October 2023 air show’s widespread unpermitted privatization of public land … violates public access protection policies of the Coastal Act, and breaches contractual obligations of the City’s lease,” wrote Spenser Sayre of the California Coastal Commission’s enforcement division in a February letter to the city.
Now, the airshow’s operators and the Coastal Commission have reached a new deal to change the look of the airshow through a mutually agreed upon cease and desist order.
The airshow will still have the power to charge admission to certain areas, but they’ll be required to open up two tunnels through the ticketed areas that go to the beachfront, and keep the actual water open for people to wade in for most of the day.
The operators also have to provide at least 100 free tickets per day of the airshow to kids at underperforming schools or their parents, along with limiting the total number of tickets they can sell on the public pier.
Any performing planes also must fly at least 1,000 feet overhead to prevent damaging the Bolsa Chica Wetlands, and the airshow’s operators can only take up space at the beach for up to two weeks.
The order also noted it would not prohibit any other agencies from investigating or imposing orders on the airshow, which is set to be investigated by the state auditor’s office.
That audit is currently on hold as city leaders argued that the auditors don’t have the power to review the settlement between city leaders and the Pacific Airshow’s operators.
[Read: State Auditors to Investigate Huntington Beach’s Pacific Airshow Settlement]
Kevin Elliott, who runs the airshow, praised the Coastal Commission in a Wednesday interview, noting that moving forward they’d be working closely together to get future airshows approved.
“We’re really encouraged by their support,” Elliott said. “We’re a very reputable operator and we want to make sure we’re in compliance.”
The deal only runs for this year’s airshow, and requires that plans for future airshows be submitted in advance for the coastal commission’s review.
“There is no longer sufficient time to bring a (coastal development permit) application or other formal action governing the event to the Commission before the 2024 Airshow,” commission staff wrote in the order. “This Consent Order is necessary to address this matter immediately.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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