SEAL BEACH : Coastal Panel Staff Now Against Project

The California Coastal Commission staff has recommended that the commission reject plans for a 355-unit residential project on the Hellman Ranch property in southwest Seal Beach.

The recommendation represents a “complete turnaround” in the staff’s position on the project, staff program analyst Larry Simon said. In December, commissioners unanimously rejected the staff’s recommendation to approve the project.

The issue will return for a vote again on Jan. 12.

“The staff obviously took its direction from the commission’s denial,” Simon said. “Several commissioners raised concerns about the impact of all residential development on existing wetlands, and questioned why we were not making a stronger effort to preserve lands that were once wetlands.”

The new staff report says the plan for the 36.8 acres which Mola Development Corp. has agreed to set aside for wetlands restoration “is clearly an incomplete and inadequate document,” and that it “varies in several respects from almost any natural or disturbed wetland found in California.”

The proposed wetland “appears more as a pond and a vegetated upland plain than a salt marsh. . . ,” the report states. It “may be of value for visual appeal to homeowners . . . but not for the species now present at the site or endangered species that depend on wetlands.”

The staff stated that wetlands are a scarce, dwindling and increasingly valuable resource which must be dealt with carefully. The report also called attention to the Bush Administration policy which calls for no net loss of wetlands, for the enhancement and restoration of damaged wetlands and for the creation of new wetlands. The commission is also under obligation to follow state guidelines in place since 1980 which call for a 50% increase in the state’s wetland acreage by the year 2000.

Mola representative Kirk Evans said the staff’s decision not to support the project should not affect the plan’s chances for approval. He added that the project has cost Mola “millions,” and that he was uncertain whether Mola would submit another application for a permit if this request is denied next week.