SEAL BEACH : Hellman Becomes Partner in Project

Mola Development Corp. announced this week that it has taken on the Hellman Co. as a partner in the controversial $200-million residential project planned for the Hellman Ranch Property in northwest Seal Beach.

The announcement came after two weeks of pressuring the City Council to approve the proposed 329-unit project, with the developer saying that the project would be in “serious jeopardy” unless it was approved by June 1, the date when Mola expected the Hellmans to discontinue Mola’s option to buy the land.

Mola spokesman Tim Roberts said the developer will still have to buy the land from the Hellman Co. for an undisclosed amount, but that the Hellmans will now maintain interest in the property after it is sold.

“We’re in this together now,” Roberts said. “They now have a significant interest in this project and will participate in the development of it. We’re very excited about it.”

Roberts declined to comment on the percentages of interest each partner would have in the project or what had persuaded the Hellman Co. to team up with Mola after nearly five years of showing no interest in the project.

Meanwhile, the City Council on Monday continued a public hearing on the project, which many residents and council members believe is losing support in the community. The hearing ended at 2 a.m. and will resume at the council’s June 11 meeting.

The council had been voting 4-1 in favor of the project until last month, when the new council was seated. The new members are Councilwoman Marilyn Bruce Hastings, who opposes the project, and Gwen Forsythe, who is undecided.

Forsythe has brought renewed emphasis to concerns about the risks of building on the land, which has two fault lines running through it and whose soil has a high probability of liquefying during an earthquake.

As a result, the council has directed the city staff to hire a consulting geologist to deliver a comprehensive analysis of the site by, it was hoped, the council’s June 11 meeting.

Dozens of residents at the meeting Monday expressed concerns about the harm the project might bring to the water supply, traffic, air quality, school crowding and the wetlands on the Hellman property.