Standing Their Ground on Koll Project

* The Times editorial (“Middle Ground Is Best for Bolsa Chica,” Sept. 4) that claims that a middle ground must be taken in the Bolsa Chica wetlands development ignores the fact that for the last 40 years developers have had a blank check to exploit Orange County for personal profit.

Developers long ago won Orange County. I grew up here when it was a beautiful pastoral paradise. Today, it is an overcrowded metropolitan mess with congested freeways that crawl along at a snail’s pace past graffiti-covered signs and walls. Drive-by murders and gang terrorism have become commonplace. Anyone who has ever driven in Orange County traffic jams knows there is no more room for any more cars.

What Bolsa Chica wetlands supporters are trying to do is to save some of the last 5% remaining wetlands in California. It is the developers who are taking the extreme position. They want all the land. The Koll Co. development plan would add some 11,000 people. Local governments are facing severe budget cuts but must provide for ever-increasing demands for services. In the name of moderation, common sense and quality of life, Bolsa Chica must be saved.

MARINKA HORACK

Huntington Beach

* The Times editorial mistakenly assumes that the Koll Co. already possesses what you term “developers’ rights.” Inclusive in this assumption is that the Koll Co. may build 2,500 homes in and near the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Let me remind The Times and its readers that the grant deed the Koll Co. received when it purchased the 4,tract did not and cannot give such legal license.

The real estate development business is based on speculation and unknowns. There are no guarantees. To say that the Koll Co. is entitled to build anything at Bolsa Chica is misleading and discounts the planning process.

RICHARD ROZZELLE

Aliso Viejo

* Your editorial is a prime example of the misinformation that continues to be spread in our community.

To start with, the proposed (Koll development) project is 4,286 homes, not 4,286 acres, and the total restoration plan proposed by Koll is $40 million, not $20 million.

As a resident of Huntington Beach who lives directly adjacent to the proposed development, I strongly support the Bolsa Chica plan that provides a tidal inlet, which is “vital” to the success of restoring the wetlands. It is not unrealistic to expect the best wetlands restoration! We must support the best wetlands restoration plan for our community or be satisfied with a second-rate restoration. Koll is willing to pay, so let’s not turn our backs on this great opportunity. Restoration without taxation continues to be my goal.

MICHAEL GUEST

Huntington Beach