SEAL BEACH : City Says It Opposes Project for Wetlands

The city has responded bluntly to an environmental impact report for the proposed Bolsa Chica housing development, saying in a letter from Seal Beach Mayor Gwen Forsythe that the document is flawed and that the project would have major negative effects on this little city.

“I want the county of Orange to know that we are opposed to this project,” said Forsythe. “We don’t want it.”

Other members of the council last week agreed with Forsythe’s sentiments and authorized the mayor to write the strongly worded response to the county’s EIR for the project.

The letter specifically takes issue with the report’s analysis of the increased traffic that would be generated if thousands of homes are built around the Bolsa Chica Wetlands, near the corner of Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

The EIR states that the traffic might be mitigated if Pacific Coast Highway is widened through Sunset Beach and Seal Beach.

But state officials have no plans to widen the road, making it unlikely that any major traffic mitigations would be made, Forsythe said.

Council members also fear that the Koll Co. project would clog Seal Beach streets with cars, increase noise and pollution and possibly strain emergency services.

Forsythe said the Bolsa Chica development and several other housing projects under development in Huntington Beach have the potential to increase the population of the area just south of Seal Beach by more than 20,000.