Huntington Beach planning commission approves school district maintenance building over neighbors' objections

The Huntington Beach Planning Commission voted 6–1 on March 10 to approve Conditional Use Permit 23-014, allowing the Huntington Beach City School District to build a maintenance and operations building at 8750 Dorset Drive, the site of the former Kettler Elementary School.

Senior Planner Jason Kelly summarized the project and staff findings, saying the site is about 4.8 acres and that the proposed building and related site improvements meet the public/semi-public (PS) zoning standards as conditioned. Kelly also said a noise study and a Phase I site environmental assessment — including testing of imported soil that came from Peterson Elementary — were submitted and included in the commission packet.

Neighbors who live directly behind the site urged the commission to deny the permit. "The district is building an industrial maintenance yard in our residential neighborhood," resident Robert Granger told the commission, arguing the district had converted the site from administrative to industrial use without proper permits and was relying on that preexisting use to…