City Seeks to Retain Control of Wetlands Development : Bolsa Chica: Huntington Beach will ask the County Board of Supervisors to yield jurisdiction over Koll Co. plans for land surrounding the ecological reserve.

Challenging a Koll Co. move to shift decision making to the county, city officials have sought to retain control over the fate of land surrounding the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.

In a 4-2 vote, the City Council on Monday night passed a measure to ask the Board of Supervisors to yield to the city jurisdiction over proposed development of property around the environmentally sensitive Bolsa Chica wetlands.

The Koll Co., which wants to build 4,884 new homes on the land, surprised the city last month by submitting its plans to county government for approval. Originally, Koll said it wanted the city to be “the lead agency” in reviewing the development proposals.

Koll officials announced that they were switching to the county because they believed county agencies can better coordinate wetland restoration. A key part of the Koll Co. plan calls for repairing some degraded wetlands in return for development approval.

Several city officials have simmered in resentment over the Koll Co. shift ever since it was announced.

“As a matter of fact, the Koll Co. has disenfranchised the people of Huntington Beach,” said Councilman Ralph Bauer on Monday night. “I for one am not too happy about that.” Bauer said Koll Co. officials have implied that Huntington Beach was moving too slowly on the proposed plans. He asserted that the city has not been moving slowly, and he predicted that county government would take longer to oversee the Bolsa Chica plans than the city.

Councilman Victor Leipzig, who noted that Huntington Beach’s corporate limits virtually surround the proposed Koll development at Bolsa Chica, made the motion allowing the city to formally ask the county to yield on Bolsa Chica.

“I feel the processing should be through the city, and the city development standards should be applied,” Leipzig said.

His motion also said the city should appeal to the state agency that oversees the California Environmental Quality Act. Leipzig said the California Environmental Protection Agency has final say over which governmental body oversees proposed development.

Bauer said the state can determine “if the Koll Co. action was legal.”

Bauer, Leipzig, Councilman David Sullivan and Mayor Pro Tem Linda Moulton-Patterson voted for the Bolsa Chica motion. Mayor Grace Winchell was ill and did not attend the meeting. Councilmen Jim Silva and Earle Robitaille voted against the measure but did not explain their opposition.