County OKs Revised Plan for Bolsa Chica : Board Fails to Make Some Modifications on Size of Wetlands, Timing of Restoration

The Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved a revised plan for the development of the Bolsa Chica wetlands, but stopped short of making all the modifications requested by the California Coastal Commission.

“We have not satisfied everyone,” said Robert Fisher, planning director of the county Environmental Management Agency. But he said the state Department of Fish and Game approved the revisions and the Coastal Commission staff indicated it might approve the new plan as it is or with slight changes.

However, the Coastal Commission’s public affairs officer, Jack Liebster, said in San Francisco that the commission is still concerned by the size of the wetlands and when restoration of the tract will begin.

If the Coastal Commission approves the program endorsed Wednesday by the supervisors, planners will draw up written recommendations to implement the development. Those suggestions must also be approved by the supervisors and the commission before building can begin.

Battle With Developer

Environmentalists have battled the Signal Cos. Inc. ever since a subsidiary of the La Jolla company bought most of the 1,600 acres in 1970.

Last November the Coastal Commission certified a plan to partially develop the marsh, giving the go-ahead for development of a marina with slips for 1,300 boats, restaurants, hotels, shops and waterfront residences, in return for restoration of 915 acres to fully productive wetlands that would be a refuge for hundreds of species of birds and fish.

The Board of Supervisors Wednesday adopted a land-use plan for Bolsa Chica that it said incorporated most of the suggestions of the Coastal Commission and sent it back to the commission for review.

But Supervisor Harriett Wieder, whose district includes Bolsa Chica State Beach, said county planners reported they were unable to flatly promise that they would also maintain at least 852 acres of wetlands.

Planners said it might be necessary to use part of the wetlands temporarily to construct a channel to the ocean, roads, bridges or other items but promised that any use of the 852 acres would be only a “minimal amount for a minimum time.”

Panel’s Concerns

That language was left in and will be a major concern of the commission, Liebster said, as will the question of when the wetlands will be restored.

Liebster said the commission wanted the wetlands restored before development began, but county officials said in some cases it might make more sense to wait until structures are in place before restoring the marshes to their original state.

The supervisors also heard a continuing objection from the Metropolitan Water District, which bought 83 acres of land in the Bolsa Chica in 1974 for $2.8 million, according to MWD attorney Russell Twomey.

Twomey said the revised plan would not allow the water district to use its land for seawater desalination facilities that it might want to build some day. He said the district did not want to initiate legal action against the county but might be forced to do so because of its action.

The Amigos de Bolsa Chica, an environmental group that strongly battled earlier plans for larger developments of the property, registered objections on what it considered insufficient buffer space between developed areas and wetlands and on plans to build homes on property susceptible to earthquake damage.

Residents Express Concern

Huntington Beach homeowners told the supervisors they were concerned about plans to reroute Pacific Coast Highway as a result of restoration and development of the Bolsa Chica, but the city’s mayor, Ruth Bailey, said the revised plan represented “a compromise we can live with.”

Liebster said the Coastal Commission staff would issue a report on the county’s revisions this summer. The Army Corps of Engineers will also report on the effect of constructing a navigable channel through Bolsa Chica State Beach to provide access to the new marina and whether the waterway would erode the sands of the beach.

Final Coastal Commission approval could be years away, with the development probably not finished until the 21st Century, according to planners and developers.