Developer Vows to Help Restore Bulldozed Area

A development company that bulldozed what local biologists say used to be a sensitive coastal habitat into a dirt lot said Wednesday that it has hired a biologist to see what can be done to make amends.

The Monarch Bay Resort Co., a division of the Japanese conglomerate Nippon Shinpan and owner of the land, claims it was only trying to clear the area of weeds--not destroy a sensitive ecological area--when the mistake was made. The company has vowed to cooperate with the city to restore the area to its original state, if necessary.

“I’ll do whatever the city wants,” said Robert Rockefeller, a vice president of the development firm. “It worries me that the goodwill and attempts of all the parties working together might be put in jeopardy over this.”

Rockefeller said he hired a biologist Wednesday to survey the area and has already looked into what can be done to enhance the habitat of Salt Creek, which runs through the property below the damaged area.

“Our goal is to build a world-class resort here,” Rockefeller said. “The more plant life we have, the more flora and fauna, the better it is for us and the community.”

In a sternly worded letter sent to the developer Friday, the city said it had not intended for the area to be razed of weeds and demanded a halt to the “illegal grading and clearing.”

In any case, what was done on the hillside “went far beyond any weed abatement,” said Ed Knight, Dana Point’s community development director.

Fred Roberts, a UC Irvine botanist who grew up in the area, said the approximately 9-acre tract was home to the coastal sage scrub and other plants indigenous to the area.

But with the damage done, the question local authorities are struggling with is what to do to rectify the situation.

The first step will be to determine exactly what was on the hillside before it was cleared, said Knight, the man who discovered the devastation while driving by the area last week.

“My first reaction was to have them stop until we can ferret through all this,” Knight said. The developer “ceased all operations and is looking for guidance from the city. . . . I think that we will have to look at some sort of restoration to that site.”

Restoring the coastal habitat will not be a quick process, biologists agree.

“It can be done, but it will take a period of time to get it back to what it was,” said Phil Brylski, a biologist for the Planning Center, the Newport Beach-based consultant hired by the city to survey the area. “To give you an idea, when you have a burn of an area that destroys vegetation it can take five to 10 years to come back.”

And that is assuming the city decides to have the area restored.

The land is part of a $500-million, 232-acre resort project that will eventually be home to a hotel, luxury homes and condominiums. The development was approved by the county before the city of Dana Point was incorporated in January, 1989.

Under the original project proposal, condominiums were to have been built on the area that was cleared, but those plans may now be in jeopardy.

Rockefeller said the latest proposal calls for luxury home sites on the damaged property and would have sought the right to grade the property anyway while offering the city a mitigation proposal. He added that his company still owns a grading permit for the area that does not expire until September.

In any case, there are other options open to developers, according to Curt Taucher, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game.

“There are a variety of things that can be done, but first the company must negotiate a mitigation agreement,” Taucher said. “One option is to look for another area to purchase (as a replacement), possibly through the Nature Conservancy.”

For environmentalists who claim as much as 90% of sensitive plant communities such as found on the Dana Point hillside, including coastal sage scrub, has been destroyed in recent years, talk of restoration and replacement does little to soothe feelings. They see more sinister motives in such destruction, particularly because the damage was discovered just days after the city had appropriated $5,275 to have a biological survey conducted in the area.

“It’s just outrageous,” said Marie Patterson of Dana Point, a local spokesperson for the South Coast Audubon Society. “These landholders are trying all sorts of things to get out of the possibility that their property could be listed as having endangered habitat. It scares us half to death.”

Ken Fortune, the president of the South Coast Audubon Society, said there is little his group can do besides “rallying our members.”

“We’re not really players in the area,” Fortune said. “All we can really do is go to City Council meetings and be vocal. We will make our views heard and do what we can to alert the public.

“But it’s very frustrating,” Fortune continued. “These kinds of things seem to be happening more and more, and the apologies come out, but you can’t help but wonder about the timing of these activities.”