The showdown over housing density in Huntington Beach is becoming more dramatic as a final vote on the Beach-Edinger Corridor Specific Plan inches closer.

To hear one side talk, the potential revenue for city coffers and local businesses that comes from a plan to build more than 2,000 residential units in Huntington Beach makes its approval inevitable despite a vocal group of density opponents. In other words, market forces will prevail in Orange County’s fourth-largest city.

Those opponents, on the other hand, say the council will make enough recommendations – like requiring more parking spaces – to virtually kill the plan. In other words, the residents will rise up and beat the developers.

The Specific Plan, which has inspired prolific opposition on social media platforms and at City Council meetings – but not much support, has two important dates on the horizon. On Tuesday, the city Planning Commission will vote on the plan, but that vote is only advisory. On May 4, the City Council will vote. The council has the final say.

“On May 5, this is going to become the law,” said Dan Kalmick, chairman of the Planning Commission. “We don’t need another study. These (developments) aren’t going to turn into slums.”

Kalmick said he expects a few recommendations to be added to the Specific Plan – like a cap on the number of dwellings that can be built per acre. But he expects increased density will win the day.

City Councilman Dave Sullivan said density won’t win. There is too much traffic, too few parking spaces and not enough public transportation to absorb a new influx of apartment dwellers, he said.

“The people of Huntington Beach are opposed to these massive apartment developments, and the council will recognize the will of the people,” Sullivan said.

Whatever happens, both sides agree it could be an electric council meeting atmosphere on May 4.

Kalmick said new apartments are going to be built in Huntington Beach because “there is a demand for class-A apartments. These are going to have granite countertops.” Kalmick said if the Specific Plan should lose, developers will simply wait until the next election cycle and help get more pro-development candidates elected.

Or, he said, the developers will turn their attention to Westminster or Garden Grove and those cities will reap the benefits of attracting younger, higher-paying renters.

Kalmick said he’s tired of the opposition claiming that Beach Boulevard is already gridlocked and therefore can’t handle more traffic. Kalmick referred to a California Department of Transportation study that reveals some areas of Beach Boulevard have seen decreased traffic in recent years and only a slight increase in other areas.

“I’m listening with an open mind, but you better show me some data here,” Kalmick said. “There’s not a lot of logical arguments that I’m hearing.”

Kalmick said Huntington Beach residents need to recognize what Surf City really is – 28 square miles of economic potential.

“People think we’re Mayberry, but we’re not,” Kalmick said, referring to the quaint feel of small-town America on the old black- and-white television hit “The Andy Griffith Show.”

Michael Hoskinson, a planning commissioner, isn’t as sure about the future as Kalmick. Hoskinson is a real estate agent. He calls himself a “pro-growth guy,” but he’s not in favor of the current Specific Plan.

“What is in place with this Specific Plan will not work,” Hoskinson said. “We have to be responsive to the citizens.”

Hoskinson points to the development at Bella Terra as an example of failure. “They have a mall, food places, Costco, apartments. They put too much stuff into a small cup,” he said. “In our city, our citizens are telling the developers we don’t like what you are doing to our town.”

Hoskinson said he could vote in favor of the Specific Plan, if it had specific numbers.

“Parameters need to be put in place,” he said.

Hoskinson wants more than 1.5 parking spaces per unit. He wants less than four stories of height on buildings. He wants a fixed number of dwellings per acre. He doesn’t want his city to try to emulate Irvine.

“The current level of density is inappropriate for Huntington Beach,” Hoskinson said. “It might work in Irvine, but I have never heard more across-the-board opposition. I hear from our citizens that this is not working for us.”

Contact the writer: ksharon@ocregister.com