HUNTINGTON BEACH : Wetlands Project to Be Discussed

Orange County officials are scheduled to discuss the recently released environmental impact report on a plan to build more than 4,000 homes in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands with the City Council and Planning Commission today.

The session is scheduled at 5 p.m. in Room B-8, adjacent to the City Council chambers.

Representatives from Orange County’s Environmental Management Agency have announced that they will only answer questions about the process and timetables for future public comment sessions and not deal with substantive issues in the environmental study, City Councilwoman Grace Winchell said.

Winchell, chairwoman of the city’s Bolsa Chica Strategic Planning Committee, said the briefing will be the only session that the county has scheduled in Huntington Beach, even though the city surrounds the Bolsa Chica area and could suffer what she called “tremendous adverse effects” from the development.

The Koll Real Estate Group, which owns the land, wants to build 4,286 homes on 400 acres. Koll would spend about $48 million to restore 1,100 acres of wetlands in return for the right to build the homes.

The environment impact report, released late in December, also includes two alternatives. One would reduce the number of homes to slightly more than 3,000, and the developer wouldn’t have to pay to restore the wetlands.

A second alternative would completely restore the wetlands in the form of a “biodiversity park” with no commercial development. There is no funding source identified for either alternative.