HUNTINGTON BEACH : Wetlands Activists Lend Park Support

Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a group that formed more than a decade ago to preserve the Bolsa Chica wetlands, has begun lobbying to protect a park planned around the perimeter of the ecological preserve.

Members of the environmental group are concerned that a proposed 284-unit condominium complex would effectively trim 10 feet off the edge of the proposed Bolsa Chica Linear Regional Park.

That footage is vital, the group believes, because the park is designed as a narrow swath along the southern edge of the wetlands.

The city’s Planning Commission last week approved the Surfcrest South housing development. Amigos de Bolsa Chica leaders plan to pursue their case if the proposal advances, as expected, to the City Council next month.

The park, originally envisioned to cover about 400 acres, has been scaled back several times over the years. It is now planned as a 106-acre park.

Amigos de Bolsa Chica is concerned about any more acreage--no matter how small--being whittled away from the planned park.

The development proposal makes up half of the planned Surfcrest project. The three-story complex is proposed at Palm and Seapoint avenues, overlooking the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve.

Under the plan approved by the commission, a wall surrounding the project would cut in half a 20-foot buffer between the complex and the park.

Representatives of Seacliff Partners, the developer, note that the full 20-foot buffer will still be landscaped, giving the residents a 10-foot, landscaped buffer from the homes to the wall.

But the environmental group argues that the wall would effectively hem in the park’s open space.

“This is one of the highest-density developments around, and it doesn’t seem quite appropriate to be next to a park,” said Terry Dolton, president of Amigos de Bolsa Chica. “Plus, this park has continually been diminished in size, and its width is narrow anyway.”