HUNTINGTON BEACH : Reaction to Wetlands Agreement Expected

A delegation of preservationists, developers and local officials hope to get their first hint next week of whether federal regulators are likely to go along with a compromise to end 15 years of fighting over the Bolsa Chica wetlands.

The coalition reached a broad agreement last May for restoring 1,000 acres of coastal saltwater marsh near Huntington Beach and, at the same time, permitting construction of thousands of homes along the environmentally sensitive coastline. The plan must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has generally prohibited development in wetlands areas.

While allowing residential development on about 80 acres of wetland, the proposal would provide Orange County with one of the largest restored wetland preserves in the state. Environmentalists say the preserve, along the Pacific Coast Highway south of Warner Avenue, would be a critical nesting and breeding area for birds from as far away as Alaska and South America.

“We have agreed to the plan because we have seen the overall benefits,” said Adrianne Morrison, executive director of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, an environmental group that has fought to preserve the wetlands. “We have all compromised. This is the best offer. . . . I think the (Environmental Protection) agency has its rules but they certainly have the ability to be flexible.”

Morrison is among eight leaders in the Bolsa Chica compromise who have scheduled a series of meetings Tuesday in Washington with federal regulators, White House staffers and members of the California congressional delegation.

Formal federal approval for the compromise is a lengthy process not expected to be completed before the end of next year. But the local coalition hopes to find out next week whether regulators at the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA are likely to look favorably on the plan. Under the proposal, Signal Landmark Corp., the principal landowner and developer, would make significant concessions to environmentalists. Signal, which bought the property in 1970, had planned a huge waterfront residential community with a 1,400-slip marina, restaurants, hotels and a channel to the ocean deep enough for boats to navigate.

The current proposal eliminates the channel, the marina and all commercial development. It also reduces the residential construction, setting aside 51 acres for a park.

Proponents point out that the proposal would establish 1,000 acres of wetlands, more than the 927 acres the EPA has said must be maintained. An additional 105 acres would be protected from development as environmentally sensitive or open-space, buffer areas.

“I’m hoping it will help us get some idea of how they feel about this plan. I’m saying hoping ,” said Darlene Shelley, Signal vice president for governmental relations.

The plan must also be approved by state and local agencies, including the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission. The coalition is still working out details, but members said they hope to present a formal proposal to the board by early next year.

Supervisor Harriet M. Wieder, who helped put together the coalition, is a key advocate of the plan.

“We believe our efforts will be a role model for the rest of the country,” Wieder said.

“At the end of next year we want to see it off and going. I can’t be any more definitive than that right now. We’re just starting to crawl.”