Surfing in the California desert? Developer’s plan sparks outrage over water use, drought
A man waves a surfboard in Huntington Beach. Photo: Getty Images A state development agency is seeking to make Huntington Beach the world’s first ocean-side surf mecca.
A man waves a surfboard in Huntington Beach. Photo: Getty Images A state development agency is seeking to make Huntington Beach the world’s first ocean-side surf mecca. Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images
The Huntington Beach City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday to ask the state development agency to approve a project that could bring about 15,000 new residents and 30,000 new jobs to the city, plus a $5 million tax break that developer Jim Rogers called “incredibly harmful.”
“This is going to devastate our city,” councilman Dan Newman told Rogers.
The project is called the Surf City at Huntington Beach. It would build what would be the city’s first commercial office park on the ocean, with 2,200 additional office workers and 600 hotel workers.
The developer, Rogers, said he has spent 15 years developing the site and he would not be able to build his office park without the state granting him a tax break.
“It