HUNTINGTON BEACH : ‘White Hole Area’ Zone Ruling Delayed

The City Council on Monday delayed a decision on whether to modify the zoning of a vast area of former wetlands, a controversy which has brewed for more than a decade.

The proposal, now set for a vote on Feb. 20, would impose new restrictions on 225 acres. City planners say it would protect critical wetlands while still allowing owners of the property to propose some development.

The zone change formally designates as wetlands nearly all of the “white hole area”--so called because years of controversy over its use has left it a white spot on city zoning maps. The area is a wide swath of largely privately owned properties along the inland side of Pacific Coast Highway, extending from Beach Boulevard to the mouth of the Santa Ana River.

The change sets new restrictions on the use of the land, most of which environmentalists hope to restore to an active natural refuge for birds and other wildlife.

The area has emerged as a hotly debated battleground between environmentalists and developers, much like the fight over the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Reserve before a compromise on that area was reached last year. Although the state Coastal Commission has designated the white hole area as an environmentally sensitive region, the property owners have contended that they have a right to develop it and that most of the wetlands are in too bad a state to be revived.

A coalition of environmentalists, property owners and government officials was recently formed to work out an agreement that they hope, like the Bolsa Chica settlement, will be mutually amicable. The group, the Pacific Coast Highway Coalition, held its first meeting last month.