Bolsa Chica Questions Should Be Answered

It has taken nearly two decades to come up with a development plan for the Bolsa Chica wetlands area that will satisfy both public and private needs for the environmentally sensitive coastal property.

So it cannot possibly hurt to take a bit more time to help ensure that all questions are answered and all doubts and concerns satisfied. That kind of assurance seems to be all that the city of Huntington Beach is seeking in its effort to have state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) delay her proposed legislation that would establish a governing district to launch a $300-million marina-housing development. The proposed project is to be on county land that adjoins Huntington Beach, which more than likely will one day annex the area into the city.

The City Council, which asked for the delay last week, will hold a public hearing on the issue Thursday, and the bill is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on June 20.

Bergeson has refused to withdraw her bill until after the public hearing. Harriett M. Wieder, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which has approved the project, says she is withholding further support of the bill until Huntington Beach takes a position.

The Legislature ought to take the same approach.

Bergeson has said she views the county support as most critical to legislators because the property is in county territory. But the area’s geographic and political closeness to the city, and the strong likelihood that it may be part of Huntington Beach one day, should prompt the state -- and Bergeson--to give the city’s position equal consideration.

City officials and many residents are rightfully concerned about beach erosion, the protection of the wetlands, the costs of restoring and maintaining those irreplaceable marshes and the final results of technical studies, like the one being done by the Army Corps of Engineers on the proposed ocean entrance.

Some residents are criticizing Bergeson’s bill, claiming that it doesn’t provide enough funds to restore the wetlands. They are fearful that the public will have to pick up the estimated $187 million for infrastructure costs and annual maintenance costs of more than $1 million on the housing-marina project planned by Signal Landmark Inc. They consider that a public subsidy of a private project and suggest it would be far less expensive for the state to just buy the wetlands.

Bergeson and the Legislature should not ignore those local concerns or rush into a possible mistake. They should put the bill on hold and take the time to answer those serious questions and satisfy the community that, environmentally and economically, development at Bolsa Chica will be as beneficial to the public as it is to the landowners.