Pacific Grove City Council table mixed-income housing proposal

PACIFIC GROVE, CALIF. (KION-TV)- People in Pacific Grove pushed back on behalf of a long-time movie theater being turned into mixed-income housing.

There was a proposal to convert the theater into a housing development,  but the Pacific Grove City Council decided to table the item.

It was a relief for a group of people that were not in support of this change. Community members like the Lighthouse Cinema just the way it is.

A developer proposed the idea of a mixed-income housing project. 

But the biggest concern for people? The parking.

Workers for the theater, like the housing manager, spoke to the council and talked about what they plan on doing to bring updated entertainment to the area. 

"There's really not much here but restaurants, which we plan on partnering with, and doing dinner hours at Lighthouse,” The manager said. “We plan on acquiring an alcohol license so we can have something for everyone to do. We wanna be somewhere that's fun, exciting, and entertainment."

According to the developer proposing the housing project, the proposal would help the city meet its regional housing requirements determined by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

Even though the process doesn’t obligate local governments to build out the housing, it does mandate they demonstrate appropriate zoning, development regulations and policies to support homebuilding goals. 

For the next eight years the city is tasked with planning an additional 1,125 units. A 14% jump in its housing inventory.