Signal to Pursue Bolsa Chica Financing Bill Next Year

An official of Signal Landmark Inc., the primary landowner of the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach, said Wednesday that the company will not give up plans to build a $300-million marina and housing development on the property.

Jeffrey Holm, the company’s senior vice president, said Signal officials are disappointed that state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) has decided to withdraw a controversial bill that would have helped finance the project, but he said some good did come out of the proposal.

“It has a solid future,” Holm said. “We had hoped by implementing the bill we would get a dialogue going with the city (of Huntington Beach) . . . and begin dealing with issues that were of greatest concern to them. That was the biggest byproduct of the bill. I think we went 95%, and we fell 5% short.”

Holm said the company will address concerns raised by Huntington Beach officials and sponsor a new bill next year.

Bergeson’s decision Wednesday to delay the bill at least until January was applauded by City Council members who had requested the delay and by environmentalists who have fought for years to prevent any development near the environmentally sensitive marshlands.

The city has said it needs more time to address several key issues such as the development-annexation agreement and the effect on beaches.

Signal plans to develop a 1,400-slip marina and 5,700 waterside homes on the 1,200 acres it owns in the unincorporated area south of Warner Avenue along Pacific Coast Highway. Passage of the bill would improve the firm’s chances of getting a $44.8-million federal loan to help pay for construction of a $90-million navigable ocean channel to link the development to the sea.

Environmentalist groups such as Amigos de Bolsa Chica argue that a navigable channel would destroy the wetlands, used as feeding and resting grounds for migratory birds and other wildlife.