HB Neighbors lawsuit over EIR goes to court Thursday

A hearing on whether Huntington Beach violated state environmental laws in how it put together its environmental impact report for its downtown specific plan is scheduled for Thursday.

Huntington Beach Neighbors filed a lawsuit against City Hall in November, claiming the city simplified the EIR to hide the effects the developments will have on the area.

The Neighbors argue that instead of conducting the traffic study during busy summer nights and weekends, the city opted for gloomy and rainy days.

The group also claims the city did the same thing for noise and parking studies and based future police presence on residential, instead of commercial, growth downtown.

In its response to the lawsuit, the city attorney’s office said the Neighbors provided no evidence of the violations.

The city cited its almost 1,000-page traffic study to support its argument, saying the only job of the court is to determine whether the study was credible.

The hearing is scheduled for 8 a.m. at the Civil Complex Center, 751 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Room CX105 in Santa Ana.

—Mona Shadia