Huntington Beach Planning Commission Meeting – November 20, 2025
Huntington Beach Planning Commission Meeting – November 20, 2025
The Huntington Beach Planning Commission met on November 20, 2025, to consider a major commercial development at the southeast corner of Golden West Street and Garfield Avenue. The project, which included a general plan amendment, zoning text amendment, tentative parcel map, conditional use permit, and environmental assessment, was approved unanimously after a public hearing. The commission also handled consent calendar items and received updates on future meetings.
Consent Calendar
- August 5, 2025, Minutes: Approved 6–0–1 (Commissioner Pellman voted no).
- October 2025 Minutes: Approved 6–0–1 (Chair Thenis abstained).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Vance Shannon (Quick Quack Car Wash): Expressed support, showed a promotional video emphasizing fast, clean, and community-oriented service. Stated the company would accept a condition for no-parking/towing signage after hours. Promised a new design more congruous with Huntington Beach.
- Eric Fitzer (Ralph’s fuel center): Supported the project, thanked the commission, and confirmed coordination with Quick Quack on elevations.
- Crinted Pickens (Northwest Huntington Beach resident): Opposed the project, requested denial, citing environmental impacts, light pollution (“disintegrating the night celestial object atmosphere”), and alleged company misconduct. Also requested that doors and windows be opened for oxygen during the meeting.
Discussion Items
- Golden West and Garfield Commercial Project (GP Amendment, ZTA, TPM, CUP, EA)
- Project Description: The applicant proposes to redevelop a vacant 1.32‑acre industrial site into a commercial corner with a 14‑pump fuel center (two canopies, ~19 ft) and a drive‑through car wash (~30 ft high, six vacuum stalls). Access from Golden West and Garfield. A 15‑ft landscape buffer is planned along street frontages. The project requires a general plan amendment from Industrial to Commercial Neighborhood, a zoning text amendment within Specific Plan No. 9 (Holly Seacliff), consolidation of eight lots into two parcels, and an addendum to the existing EIR.
- Staff Report: Staff recommended approval, finding the project consistent with the general plan, compatible with surrounding uses, and less impactful than industrial use. One late public comment about signage on an adjacent property was noted; staff will assist that property owner.
- Design Review Board (DRB) Comment: The DRB did not approve elevations but forwarded the project with conditions to enhance materials and colors prior to building permits. Commissioner Goldberg, a DRB member, noted the rendering was not architecturally pleasing but that there were no fatal site plan flaws; the applicant agreed to return to DRB for final design review.
- Commission Questions: Concerns about parking (potential overnight car dwellers) were addressed. The applicant agreed to post no‑parking/towing signage. Fire department confirmed soil contamination was remediated through testing and compliance. The well abandonment plan was verified as designed for unobstructed future access.
- Public Hearing: No other speakers beyond those listed above.
Key Outcomes
- Motion: Commissioner Palmer moved to approve the entire project (GP Amendment, ZTA, TPM, CUP, EA) with the added condition that the applicant install no‑parking/towing signage for overnight vehicles. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bush and passed unanimously (7–0).
- Effective Dates: The planning commission’s action on the general plan amendment, zoning text amendment, and environmental assessment is a recommendation to the city council for final action. The tentative parcel map and conditional use permit are final unless appealed to the city council within 10 calendar days.
- Other Planning Items: The November 25, 2025, meeting was canceled. The December 9, 2025, meeting will include an appeal of a three‑story home in Huntington Harbor. Commissioner comments included wishes for a happy Thanksgiving and a brief discussion about potential code changes regarding roof designs, but no formal action was taken.
Meeting Transcript
The people doing unethical things. I saw some things that I'm planning commission uh meeting to order. We welcome to the uh November 20th, 2025 Huntington Beach Planning Commission meeting while planning commission while the planning commission welcomes public improvement and free speech, it rejects comments from anyone that are discriminatory, defamatory, or otherwise not protected speech. Those comments will not inform or be considered by the planning commission and may cause the chair to interrupt the speaker. Such comments will not be uh consented or otherwise adopted by the planning commission in its discussions and findings for any matter tonight. Thank you. All right, I'd like to call on Commissioner Goldberg to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Please rise if you're able. And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God. Please be seated. Okay, may we have a roll call? May we have a roll call, please? Commissioner Pellman. Vice Chair Bush. Here, Chair Thenis. Here. Commissioner Babanell. Present. Commissioner McGee. Present. Commissioner Palmer. Present. Commissioner Goldberg. Present. Okay, we have a quorum. Okay, now is the time for uh public comments for any items that are not on the agenda. Do we have any uh public comments? We have no comments for anything that is not on the agenda. Sweet. Okay, uh next on the agenda is a uh public hearing on uh general plan amendment number two zero hyphen zero zero one zoning text amendment twenty-zero zero two tentative parcel map 21-0103 uh conditional use permit uh 1902 one and environmental assessment number two one zero zero one uh golden west and uh Garfield Commercial Project. All right, uh planning commissioners uh please state your uh disclosure regarding this item. I'll start on my right. I spoke a little bit about it with uh Commissioner Bush. I spoke to some degree with um City Council Member McKeon, and other than that, um I know that there was a request to see if I had a conflict of interest, and I do not, and that was confirmed with council. Thank you. I spoke with Dominic McGee and Councilman Chad Williams, and I spoke with um Mayor Pro Tem uh McKeon, I had a short conversation with Mayor Pro Tem McKeon and also a meeting with Councilman Twining. I had a conversation with Mayor Pro Tem McKeon and with Councilman Don Kennedy, and I spoke, I don't know if it needs disclosure. I spoke to um four anonymous residents. Okay, and very brief conversation with uh Mayor uh Pro Tim uh McKeon as well. Okay, um may we please have a staff report. All right, good evening, Chair Thenis and members of the planning commission. Let's see. The item before you is located at 19026 Golden West Street. It is located at the southeast corner of Golden West Street and Garfield Avenue. The general plan land use designation is I or Industrial SP specific plan overlay, and the zoning designation is SP9, specific plan number nine, commonly known as the Holly Seacliff Specific Plan. The project is surrounded by industrial uses to the north, south, and east, and the commercial is located, and there's a commercial shopping center across Golden West Street, and Caddy Corner to the site is residential. So there are multiple facets to this project, and I'll quickly go over each request. The first one is a request to amend the general plan designation from industrial to commercial neighborhood to allow the proposed commercial uses similar to the commercial center or to commercial uses that are allowed across the street. The next portion of the request is a zoning text amendment to modify the zoning map within the specific plan to allow the uses here to go from industrial to commercial. You can see the existing map within the specific plan and the proposed one within the specific plan.
openpublica.com