HUNTINGTON BEACH : Panel Delays Ruling on Former Wetlands
The state Coastal Commission has postponed a proposed rezoning of 232 acres of former wetlands along Pacific Coast Highway between Beach Boulevard and the Santa Ana River.
The Coastal Commission staff had recommended tougher controls on some of that land than had been established by the city of Huntington Beach. But Coastal Commissioner Roger Slates of Huntington Beach on Wednesday led a move that succeeded in delaying action on the wetlands issue.
“This is the knottiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Slates said after listening to staff and public testimony about the wetlands zoning. “I think we need a little more time.”
The commission staff did not object to a delay, and the rest of the Coastal Commission supported Slates’ move to postpone action on the wetlands.
At issue are potentially very valuable lands facing Pacific Coast Highway. The commercial possibilities for the land are numerous, but environmentalists have said they want to preserve most of the 232 acres and have the land restored as wetlands for wildlife.
Representatives of Mills Land & Water Co. and the state Department of Transportation both testified that stricter controls on the wetlands, as proposed by the Coastal Commission staff, would leave their land “without any economic value.”
Robert London Moore, representing Mills Land & Water, said no proof ever has been offered that the former wetlands can be restored.
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