Seal Beach : Mola Co. Suffers Another Setback

A Superior Court commissioner on Wednesday rejected a request by the Mola Development Co. to reinstate approvals for its controversial $200-million residential project on the Old Hellman Ranch property.

Court Commissioner Ronald L. Bauer disagreed with Mola’s argument that the approvals, which he invalidated because they were issued while the city’s state-mandated housing plan was obsolete, should be reinstated now that the city has a new plan in place.

Seal Beach was forced to update its housing plan, a strategy for dealing with future housing needs, after the Wetlands Restoration Society successfully sued the city for approving the development while the plan needed updating.

Mola officials said earlier this month that the Hellman Co., which owns the land on which Mola hopes to build its 329-unit project, would discontinue Mola’s option to buy the property if the company did not get development approvals by Friday.

Mola had hoped to gain those approvals either from Bauer on Wednesday or from the City Council at their Tuesday meeting, but came away empty-handed on both counts.

Mola officials did not return calls for comment Wednesday.

It now appears that approval for the project cannot come earlier than June 4, when the council next meets to discuss the development.

Council members indicated Tuesday that they expect to meet June 11 to further discuss the project.

By that time, city officials hope to have a new assessment of the geological hazards on the Hellman property, which includes two earthquake faults. The study was requested by newly elected Councilwoman Gwen Forsythe, who said she could not approve the project until safety concerns are addressed.

The council is also under pressure to either approve or reject Mola’s tentative tract map by June 13 because of a state law that says a council must decide on maps for a project no later than one month after the first council meeting following Planning Commission approval of the maps.

And there may be more delays next week, when the wetlands society plans to file a legal challenge to the new city housing plan, said attorney Jonathan Lehrer-Graiwer. The group, which is fighting to keep the land open for wetlands restoration, contends that the city’s new housing plan, adopted May 10, shows no commitment to provide low-cost housing in Seal Beach.

“It has a number of defects,” Lehrer-Graiwer.

On June 21, Lehrer-Graiwer will ask Bauer to do something no judge in Orange County has done: etermine whether the housing plan is a good faith effort. But according to City Manager Robert Nelson, it’s unlikely the judge will rule in the society’s favor.

“What basis does the judge have to make that ruling?” Nelson said. “This is not a matter of law. It’s a matter of opinion.”