Support for Ocean Channel Evaporates : Coalition Formed to Draft New Plan for Bolsa Chica

Support for a key feature of Signal Landmark’s controversial planned Bolsa Chica marina and waterfront community has evaporated and a coalition including the landowner, conservationists, and city, county and state officials was formed Thursday to draft a new plan.

Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder said that an ocean entrance to the proposed marina, which she once supported, has been met with “overwhelming resistance in Huntington Beach.”

“Nobody wants it except maybe the developer,” she said. “Politically, it doesn’t seem possible, and I think Signal realizes that.”

The environmentally sensitive Bolsa Chica area is where Signal hopes to build a community of 5,700 waterfront homes with a 1,400-slip marina and businesses--a project that, for more than a decade, has fed a raging battle between the landowner and conservationists. The planned channel from the marina to the sea has stirred the fiercest opposition because it would slice through the popular Bolsa Chica State Beach.

Although all parties in the dispute agreed Thursday to try to formulate a new plan, the present county land-use plan--conditionally approved by the Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission--will not be abandoned unless consensus on a new one is reached by the newly formed Bolsa Chica Planning Coalition, members said.

However, Wieder and Huntington Beach Mayor John Erskine said they believe that a new plan is the best hope for reaching a compromise agreement that environmentalists, Signal and government agencies can accept after nearly 15 years of effort.

“We’re delighted!” said Victor Leipzig, president of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a preservation group that has fought Signal in the political arena and in court trying to protect the wetlands. “This is a victory for the public and, really, for the entire state of California.”

Wetlands Restoration

All coalition members seem to agree that any plan would have to include restoration of the 900-acre Bolsa Chica wetlands, one of the last undeveloped marshes in Southern California. It is located south of Warner Avenue along Pacific Coast Highway on county land.

The California Coastal Commission has given tentative approval to the channel, with a final decision depending on whether it was deemed to be financially and environmentally possible. Final studies on both points have not been completed.

Huntington Beach officials, beach-goers and other residents have expressed concerns that the channel would lead to a loss of beach sand and would affect surfing conditions. They have also raised questions about who would bear the cost of replenishing the eroded shores as the sand drifted southward.

While Signal is not abandoning its effort to build the channel, the company has agreed for the first time to at least consider doing without it, a spokesman for the Irvine-based company said Thursday.

“We are committed to exploring alternative plans and our commitment is to bring to the table a positive attitude and commit whatever staff or consultant time is needed to meet the demands of the group, and for the purpose of trying to satisfy some of the local concerns of residents and the various landowners’ concerns,” said Jeff Holm, Signal’s senior vice president for residential land development.

The Bolsa Chica Planning Coalition will meet monthly for 6 months, beginning Nov. 21 at Huntington Beach City Hall, to come up with an alternative to the county land-use plan, Wieder said. If agreed upon by all members, the alternative plan will be presented for approval to the county and then the Coastal Commission.

The 16-member coalition will include representatives from Wieder’s office, the Huntington Beach City Council, county and city planning staffs, Signal, the Amigos, the office of state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), the Coastal Commission, the state Lands Agency and the state Department of Fish and Game.

Participants in the long-running dispute said a variety of factors converged recently to create an atmosphere for compromise.

Over the course of several months, persistent public opposition to both the navigable ocean channel and a proposed bill by Bergeson has emerged at hearings, citizens advisory committee meetings and--as the November elections approach--candidate forums. Bergeson’s bill, which would have allowed creation of a mini-city with powers to levy fees to pay for early stages of the development, was withdrawn from consideration twice. A spokeswoman said Thursday that the senator has no plans to pursue it now.

Support by 1 Candidate

Of 15 Huntington Beach City Council candidates, only one--Henry Yee--supports the ocean entrance.

“The point is, all the candidates, all the current council (members) and all the citizens we know of oppose the ocean cut,” Huntington Beach City Administrator Paul E. Cook said. “So, why do it?”

Besides community tide shifting against the boat route to the sea, others say Signal’s new chief executive officer, Peter Denniston, has shown a willingness to compromise where his predecessors had not.

Julie Froeberg, Bergeson’s chief of staff, said Denniston “has a lot of respect as a coalition builder.” When he was with the Irvine Co., she said, “he was one of the many people involved with the Irvine Coast agreement” in which environmentalists, the Irvine Co. and county planners settled on how to develop the area after years of debate.

Wieder, Erskine and Cook called for Thursday morning’s meeting, but they indicated that they had not imagined making anywhere near the progress that resulted.

“And what do you know,” Cook said. “We had some things on the table in a hurry and people seemed interested in working together and we even got a name for this thing. All in an hour. This is big.”