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Mailbag: Changes not good for Suburbia Park

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I would like to make some corrections/additions to the letter titled, “LeBard changes will benefit community” in the Nov. 6 Forum section of the HB Independent.

Most of the surrounding community does not consider this project to be beneficial. This is primarily due to the fact that of the 10 acres “owned” by the Huntington Beach City School District, five will go to the development of 30 new houses, all of which will exit and enter out of only one street in Suburbia Park, substantially increasing traffic and crowding to that neighborhood. Also, these houses will be on significantly smaller lot sizes, shrinking from the current 6,000 square feet in Suburbia Park to 4,800 square feet, effectively creating a new neighborhood instead of just an addition.

This is how the “plan will pay for itself.” Hmm — wonder why this wasn’t mentioned?

Two acres of continuous open space, which is behind the current baseball fields, will be gone, covered by these new homes. Many people use this space — they walk their dogs, play impromptu soccer/football/throwing games, have little parties, etc. And this continuous space is not being made up in the new plan. It is chopped up into little sections behind the new fields, whereby it will most likely be used for bleachers, practicing or fundraising events by Seaview.

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The new tot lot is substantially smaller than the current playground, almost by half — the project tries to make up for this by creating green space under the huge Edison towers, one of which has cell phone antennas on it — not a great place for a kid (or anyone) to play. Also, this area is somewhat unsafe being next to the Santa Ana River, where, sadly, lots of homeless people roam.

And finally, if work safety of the employees is a true concern, why didn’t HBCSD accept the $7 million offered by the city four years ago, in 2008? Gee, wasn’t that enough money to go find or create a new district office? They let their employees be at risk for another four years and counting.

Sure, everything will be new, but at what cost? Increased car congestion to Suburbia Park from the 30 new houses, a smaller and inferior playground, the loss of 2 acres of open space, and almost two years (that’s if all goes well and the construction company doesn’t go bankrupt) of continuous truck traffic, construction noise and air pollution to build it all. Beneficial? I don’t think so.

Rebecca L. Hart

Suburbia Park Resident

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Election’s over, clean up

On Sunday the 18th, 12 full days after the election, I rode around our Huntington Beach neighborhood on a bicycle collecting street corner campaign signs for recycling.

Most promoted the vanquished: two for Tim Ryan, two for Erik Peterson and one each for Barbara Delgleize, Billy O’Connell, John Briscoe and Yes on Z.

Wouldn’t it be marvelous if each of these candidates and causes, even in defeat, would clean up after themselves?

Rex Parker

Huntington Beach

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City needs Devin Dwyer

I’m slow here, but just re-read your Nov. 15 article about Devin Dwyer’s election loss.

He was one of my top five — obviously not good enough. If I had known about his street-sweeping stance I would have cast only one vote, just for him.

(I did wonder about the plastic bags, though.)

You said he has a texting service to notify people about the sweeping. That’s something that should be widely broadcast. I need that too.

I used to spend about an hour going house to house when I saw cars that had to be moved in our tract, but when I got my the last tickets, I was caught completely off guard myself. Two cars at $44. When I complained loudly at the library, someone asked where I lived because their tickets were $50.

By the way, I hope Mr. Dwyer gets a blog or Facebook page going. He can always block/delete the trolls. We need someone to decipher what’s happening on that council.

Let him know we need him and I’ll be willing to do footwork or whatever for his next election. I am not an active HB city person, but I see that it’s people like me that cost him his job. We need to be kept informed.

I’m glad to read that Mr. Dwyer is going to be on top of the City Council actions.

Marilyn Davis

Huntington Beach

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Naturally disappointed

It was with deep sadness that I read last week that there are only two more weeks of Lou Murray and Vic Leipzig’s column. It is the first thing I read each week.

And today Lou’s description of her visit to the Tetons for photography was spellbinding. “…to see the first rays of a rosy-fingered dawn chasing shadows down the front of the Tetons.”

Why are they being discontinued? Perhaps they are not always local in their reporting, but stepping out with them is a breath of fresh air.

Please reconsider.

Shirley E. Roth

Fountain Valley

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Two missing features missed

As a loyal subscriber to the L.A. Times, I appreciate the inclusion of the HB Independent with the Thursday Times. I have come to enjoy the regular features and columns included in each issue.

Recently, two of my very favorite features disappeared and I’m curious why. The column by Vic Leipzig and Lou Murray is a valuable one for news about local environmental events and things you can do to help conserve our resources locally, as well as relating our area to the greater world. It was fun, folksy and well-written always.

The second feature that disappeared is the crossword puzzle. The replacement one is a sad example as there is little challenge at all. The previous supplier of the puzzles provided ones that had a challenge and caused one to think and delve deeply into one’s vocabulary in order to solve them.

I strongly urge you to restore these features to the Independent, as they help make the paper a challenging, thoughtful addition to the community.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Charles Glenn

Huntington Beach

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