County Is Last, Best Hope for Bolsa Chica Restoration : Environment: Its expertise in other wetlands projects and grasp of regional needs should encourage community leaders.

The Bolsa Chica Co.’s recent decision to ask the County of Orange to be the lead agency (with the Army Corps of Engineers) on the Bolsa Chica Coalition Plan has surprised and upset some Huntington Beach City Council members, according to recent media reports. Now that they have allegedly been “sidestepped,” one council member has pledged even stronger opposition to the project.

The fact of the matter is, however, that county management is a positive step in order for the Bolsa Chica Coalition Plan and the restoration of the Bolsa Chica wetlands to move forward.

Community leaders advocating the timely restoration of the Bolsa Chica wetlands can be encouraged by the county’s expertise in handling wetlands restoration projects and its broad perspective concerning the region’s environmental resources. We all stand to benefit by the completion of the environmental analysis and the restoration of the Bolsa Chica wetlands in a timely manner.

Most importantly, the City Council’s response avoids the question: Will the City of Huntington Beach really suffer a significant loss as a result?

* While the City Council will not preside over the approval process, the county has pledged to work closely with Huntington Beach leaders in analyzing potential impacts and mitigation measures to offset the impacts. The City Council and local community will continue to have a strong voice in the process.

* Huntington Beach residents still will be able to enjoy new recreational amenities such as the 106-acre linear park, new community parks and miles of trails surrounding the largest wetlands between San Diego and Monterey.

* Although not incorporated into the city of Huntington Beach, the Bolsa Chica project will generate significant revenue for the city in the form of increased eco-tourism attracted by a 1,000-acre restored wetlands, as well as the tax dollars generated by new residents coming into the city.

Perhaps the most significant benefit to the community is the county’s interest and proven expertise in managing the restoration of Bolsa Chica.

For more than 20 years, Bolsa Chica has been subjected to one political battle after the other. So far, the real loser has been Bolsa Chica, where only 170 acres of wetlands have been restored to date. Repeated studies indicate that over the years, the wetlands still awaiting restoration have lost much of their value for the sensitive species that use the site, and that deterioration of this historic salt marsh will surely continue if restoration is not undertaken soon.

In 1988, County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder’s leadership brought together the interested parties: Amigos de Bolsa Chica, the city of Huntington Beach, the county, the State Lands Commission and Signal Landmark, the principal landowner, to form the Bolsa Chica Planning Coalition.

This unprecedented alliance created a plan for the restoration of 1,000 acres of wetlands, dramatically increasing the amount and overall quality of the natural habitat for birds, animals, marine life and plants.

For the community, the coalition envisioned a 106-acre park atop the Huntington Mesa, overlooking the ocean, along with miles of trails surrounding the newly restored wetlands.

According to the Coalition Plan, the landowner will donate almost 800 acres of private property in the lowland and restore more than 400 acres of it to productive wetland habitat in exchange for the approval to create a residential neighborhood on less than 25% of the 1,700-acre area. This concept plan was originally approved in a series of 7-0 decisions by the Huntington Beach City Council.

Now, four years later, the county has offered to complete the local processing of the Coalition Plan, still in the early stages of local environmental review. With the county already having demonstrated its ability to direct the successful restorations of Upper Newport Bay and the Talbert Marsh, the Bolsa Chica project is a natural extension of its recent environmental successes. The county will demonstrate how, through the proper coordination of local, state and federal agencies, restoring our precious resources can be accomplished in an economically viable manner--without using local tax dollars.

Yes, the Bolsa Chica Co. stands to benefit from the housing development portion of the project. However, a landowner, whether an individual or a corporation, has the right to a reasonable profit from real estate holdings, particularly when the public stands to benefit from the improvement of a valuable natural resource.

For too long, adversarial relationships have existed between the business community, the public and government. The Coalition Plan demonstrated that when society’s diverse interests cooperate, sensible alternatives can result.

And while our democratic system all but ensures partisan opposition to most any program, the Coalition Plan represents the most workable and environmentally sensitive alternative for saving and enhancing the wetlands.