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CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

Here are some of the items the City Council considered at its meeting Monday:

Surf city nights funding

Downtown farmers’ market and festival Surf City Nights has had its funding extended another year by the city. The council approved another $86,000 for Surf City Nights over the next year, paying for city workers who close roads and police the Tuesday event. The money also boosts Downtown Business Improvement District Executive Director Connie Pedenko’s salary to that of a full-time position, charging her with growing her organization and organizing the festival. The funding passed with five votes, with Councilwoman Debbie Cook absent and Councilman Joe Carchio abstaining because he owns a downtown business.

WHAT IT MEANS

The city will continue to pay about half of the roughly $2,200 weekly cost of Surf City Nights through next October. Any sponsorships found for the event would save the city some of that money, economic development director Stanley Smalewitz said. Some council members said they approved the funds on the expectation that by next year the Business Improvement District would be able to support the weekly event itself.

Public dressing ordinance

The council voted unanimously to delete language in a city ordinance banning dressing or changing into swimsuits in public, calling it redundant after Huntington Beach’s new public nudity ban.

WHAT IT MEANS

Dressing on public lands or in public facilities will no longer be illegal in and of itself, but any such act involving nudity will continue to be so, once the deletion goes into effect 30 days after the Monday council meeting.

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Wireless antenna restrictions

The council voted 5-1 to impose new visibility restrictions on wireless transmitters, such as for cellular phone networks. Companies wishing to build new transmitters in the public right-of-way will now have to seek the least obtrusive location they can, put facilities underground whenever possible and “co-locate” antennas on existing structures. Companies would have to apply for a permit to justify their choices to the city.

WHAT IT MEANS

Representatives of several wireless companies showed up to protest the new rules, but city staff and council members said they had numerous chances already to do so, and did not expect further negotiations to change the rules. Some of the rules must still be approved by the California Coastal Commission, and fees collected in the permitting process have their legality considered in a pending California Supreme Court case.

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