HUNTINGTON BEACH : City OKs Swap Meet in Industrial Building
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Despite opposition from nearby industrial businesses, the City Council has approved an indoor swap meet to operate in an industrial building.
The council voted 4 to 3 Monday to allow the indoor swap meet in a 212,500-square-foot vacant building at 5555 McFadden Ave. The swap meet will have up to 325 vendors, 1,320 parking spaces and will be allowed to sell beer and wine at food booths.
“I think once (the council) sees the operation, all of their worries will be passed by the wayside,” said Frazer Tremblay, who operates five other flea markets in Florida and Canada.
The retail operation would produce $200,000 a year in sales-tax revenue and business license fees. The council majority agreed to allow the swap meet to operate for up to 10 years, when it would be decided whether the building should revert to industrial use.
The Planning Commission rejected the proposal in May, but Councilman Ralph Bauer appealed that decision. The council on Aug. 1 denied the appeal and upheld the Planning Commission’s decision. Later that month, at Councilman Victor Leipzig’s urging, the council voted to reconsider it.
Bauer, Mayor Linda Moulton Patterson and Councilmen Jim Silva and Earle Robitaille cast the favorable votes to allow the swap meet operation. Patterson had previously opposed it and Silva had abstained. Leipzig, who originally had voted against the project because of the potential impacts of a retail business in an industrial area, again voted against the plan. He said he favored an eight-year limit on the use of the building for a swap meet.
Conditions imposed include a ban on the sale of firearms, a graffiti cleanup program and a restriction on operating hours. The swap meet will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
A six-month parking review will be done to determine if customers park in lots of adjacent businesses. If there are problems, the swap meet owner may be required to secure a second parking lot and provide shuttle service for customers.
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