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Surf City officials are moving forward with a controversial new light show at Huntington Central Park East despite concerns from residents over the privatization of a public park and the damage it could do to the environment.
City council members unanimously approved the proposal on Tuesday night, saying it was essential to patch growing holes in their annual budget and that the majority of the community was supportive of the idea.
“This will generate much needed income for the city at a time when we need it,” said Councilman Tony Strickland. “Just because a group of loud folks come to city council doesn’t mean that’s the actual representation of the whole city of Huntington Beach.”
The newly minted deal approved allows for the Symphony of Flowers light show to take up a chunk of the park for six months of every year for the next three years, letting people come to see shows at the park between 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. multiple nights a week.
The show is set to run roughly between Labor Day weekend and the beginning of March.
The city is set to receive just over half of the parking fees and would receive $3 to $5 per ticket sold depending on the year of the agreement according to their contract with the symphony, with a guarantee of at least $150,000 in revenue for each year from the company.
There were no details in the license agreement on how much the final cost of tickets would be, but parking costs were listed at $10, of which the city will receive $6.
The company agreed to set aside an additional $50,000 to restore any damage to the park after the event each year.
In later years, the city is also set to receive some income from food and sponsorship sales.
But many residents who spoke up at the meeting and sent in emails said this was not the way to help patch holes in the city’s budget.
Former Councilwoman Natalie Moser spoke out during public comments, calling it a “months-long corporate takeover of our public park.”
“This event will limit access to our largest park, strain park maintenance and volunteers, increase car congestion and disrupt wildlife,” Moser said. “This is not just a bad deal for the park, it’s a precedent setting corporate takeover of public space. This is not responsible governance.”
The city is currently facing an expected $8 million deficit for the next fiscal year, with council members warning that without significant shifts the city will have to dip into reserves.
While the light show’s operators paid for a report to review the environmental impact, they claimed there would be no increase in traffic or permanent damage to the park, a claim many were skeptical of.
Victor Leipzig, a former mayor who served in the 90s, came to speak on behalf of the Sea and Sage Audubon Society, a nonprofit organization in Orange County aimed at protecting wildlife.
“There will unquestionably be impact on the birds in Central Park,” Leipzig said. “I think it’s a shame to lose this to the general public during so much of the year, during the daylight hours when what we’ll see is basically a fenced in area that will look like an industrial park.”
City Council members repeatedly urged residents to trust the environmental review, with Councilman Chad Williams highlighting how it was conducted by “tree hugging environmentalists.”
“There are certain indicators you could see if they were just trying to rubber stamp it or not,” Williams said. “They went above and beyond.”
Councilman Don Kennedy also emphasized that if the deal failed to turn a significant profit or opened up new issues, they had the right to cancel it after the first year.
“We negotiated a unilateral right to cancel this show at the end of the year if it doesn’t perform,” Kennedy said. “We have to do as leaders what we think is best for the city with hurting as few people as possible.”
Councilman Casey McKeon told residents they should get ready for other proposals to patch the city budget that may not be popular in the coming months.
“We will be publicly going through every single city department to find efficiencies and reduce expenses,” McKeon said. “Everything is on the table because it has to be.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
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