HUNTINGTON BEACH : County Planners Offer 3rd Plan for Wetlands

The county Planning Commission has come up with a third option for the development of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands.

The latest option includes a tidal inlet and allows 100 additional homes, according to Ron Tippets, county chief of coastal planning.

Commissioners sought another plan because public comments persuaded them that one more option should be considered, officials said.

The third option also includes reducing the acreage of a community park in the lowlands and allowing a kayak and canoe facility, Tippets said.

He added that the facility would allow limited excursions into the wetlands for scientific and educational purposes and would be controlled by county park rangers and the state Department of Fish and Game.

Public comments on the third option will be accepted during the next six weeks, he said.

Julie Osugi, city associate planner, said the comment period should be extended.

By the time “we turn in comments at the end of the six-week period, based on the county’s schedule, the county Planning Commission hearings (which conclude on Nov. 30) will (have been) completed already. The comments won’t get the level of review by the Planning Commission as the first set of comments did,” Osugi said.

The Koll Real Estate Group proposes to build 4,286 homes, but the county has presented options for either 3,200 homes or 2,500 homes. Under the third county option, up to 3,300 homes may be built, Tippets said.

Koll’s plan also includes a $20-million tidal inlet to link the wetlands and the ocean, and restoration of 1,100 acres of wetlands.

Chuck Nelson, Amigos de Bolsa Chica president, said: “Without the tidal inlet alternative, you’re not providing the best alternative for the highest quality restoration.”

Gordon LaBedz, a spokesman for Surfrider Foundation, which opposes a tidal inlet, said: “In our view, this is a $20-million boondoggle that will flood the wetlands and pollute the ocean. . . . It has the potential to erode the beach and cliffs.”