City OKs Amendments to Bolsa Chica Tax Measure

The Huntington Beach City Council on Monday night approved amendments to proposed state legislation that would create a special district for taxing future residents of Bolsa Chica, a step the landowners say is necessary to develop the saltwater marshland.

With the deadline for amendments to the bill falling this morning, the council voted unanimously to forward the proposed changes to state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), who authored the legislation, Senate Bill 1517.

The bill is scheduled to be presented to the Senate Local Government Committee on April 29 and the the Senate Natural Resources Committee on May 5.

The legislation was introduced by Bergeson on March 6 and sponsored by Signal Landmark Inc. of Irvine.

Most of the speakers from the audience at Monday’s council meeting opposed the bill.

‘City Within a City’

A woman who identified herself as S. Graham of Huntington Beach asked that the council not support the bill because a special district governed by a private landowner “short-circuits the residents of Huntington Beach” and “we don’t want a city within a city.”

But there was some support for the legislation among the audience members. Mike Knapp of Huntington Beach said that “without the project, there is no wetlands.

Signal says the proposed special district is critical to development of the 1,600 acres of tidal mud flats, oil fields, vacant mesas and salt marsh known as the Bolsa Chica wetlands. It is one of the last remaining coastal salt marshes in Southern California.

Signal Landmark has been trying to develop the small section of coast for nearly 15 years. Spokesmen say the firm needs such a district to secure a $46-million federal loan and raise financing for the project, which would include a marina, a water-oriented commercial complex and a waterfront residential community. A land-use plan for the project was approved more than two years ago by the California Coastal Commission.

That plan attempted to end the lengthy battle over development of the wetlands, calling for restoration of 915 acres of wetlands by Signal Landmark with the remainder to be developed.

Balance of Interests

The compromise was intended to balance the concerns of environmentalists trying to protect the wildlife habitat against the interest in more boating space, waterfront parks and high-dollar seaside residential development.

Final approval of the Coastal Commission plan depends on the results of studies not yet completed by the Army Corps of Engineers on the impact of a marina entrance on the wetlands.

Huntington Beach City Administrator Charles Thompson said the city never has opposed the idea of a special district but wants to limit the boundaries, taxing authority and the power of eminent domain that the special district would be granted by the legislation.

Bolsa Chica is now in county territory, but the city is interested in annexing the area before construction begins and is concerned about the prospect of having to deal with another municipality--the special district’s board of directors--according to Rich Barnard, assistant city administrator.

Barnard added that the city is also interested in maintaining water and sewage service to the Bolsa Chica but wants the developer to finance the construction and installation of such systems.

4 Separate Reviews

“The problem is, Signal has been talking with the city since 1973 about annexation, and there have been four separate reviews of annexation,” Signal spokesman Wayne Clark said. “Each time (annexation) has been put aside for a variety of reasons.”

Clark said estimates of the ultimate property value of Bolsa Chica are as high as a $1.5 billion. “This is a big deal to us,” Clark said.

A spokesman for Bergeson said the senator has identified more than 50 special-interest groups who have requested copies of the proposed special district bill. He said the bill can be amended many times before it winds its way through four Senate and four Assembly committees.