HUNTINGTON BEACH : Land Donation Lag Delays Bluffs Park

Delays in obtaining land is slowing down prospects for a long-proposed county regional park in the Bolsa Chica bluffs area, a county official told the City Council on Tuesday night.

Plans for the proposed Bolsa Chica Regional Linear Park call for 106 acres, but just 22 acres of land have been donated to the project so far, said Robert G. Fisher, director of the county’s Harbors, Beaches and Parks Department.

The remaining 84 acres must come from residential developers, and Fisher said that process may take several more years.

The proposed park would be a narrow, S-shaped sliver of land extending from the Bolsa Chica bluffs at Pacific Coast Highway inland to Central Park. While it would be small, the park would include some of the most scenic vistas in Huntington Beach, according to environmentalists. It would be on the southern end of the Bolsa Chica wetlands, and part of it would be a buffer for the wetlands’ wildlife.

The rest of the park would include hiking paths, bikeways and horse trails, along with playgrounds.

Conservationists have been working for 15 years to establish a park in the Bolsa Chica bluffs. The Amigos de Bolsa Chica, an environmental group that has fought to preserve the wetlands, has said the linear park should be expanded to 150 acres.

Efforts to establish a park have been stymied by the high cost of land. The breakthrough appeared to have come earlier this year, when county Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder and other city and county officials formally dedicated the linear site.

The city and county expect the 84 remaining acres to come from two developers: Signal Landmark Properties and the Huntington Beach Co. Both plan large-scale residential developments on land they own next to the site.

But the size of the Huntington Beach Co.’s development would require the company to give just 8 acres to the linear park, city officials said Tuesday night. Plans for the park had envisioned 34 acres of land from the Huntington Beach Co., with the remaining 50 acres coming from Signal Landmark Properties.

City officials said they hope to negotiate an agreement with the Huntington Beach Co. so the company will give more land in exchange for development elsewhere in the city.