Bolsa Chica Plan Will Cost Taxpayers

* The question of what the Koll Co. should pay for the various public services required for its Bolsa Chica project is not valid. Wide banking experience has given me opportunities to deal with developers, land speculators and contractors like Koll. I am aware of the financial costs that developments require and what the taxpayer/consumer has to pay if the project works or does not work.

A newspaper quoted that on the average for every $1 spent by a developer on public services for a tract site, the taxpayers in that area will pay from $1.50 to $2.50. I believe this is probable and the Koll Co. should be paying closer to $8 million rather than the $5 million being requested.

The prior City Council’s expansion programs have given the Huntington Beach residents a hotel that is bankrupt and should never have been approved, and a downtown redevelopment project that has three-story buildings that are completely incompatible with the “village concept.” Since these misplaced growth projects, there have been numerous auctions to sell new units/homes and vacant commercial sites. The Koll Co. will add to our problem. Therefore, taxpayer be ready, for you will pay either to make up for lost revenue, cost of increased services, fewer or poor services and an additional number of immediate residents without adequate traffic control.

No matter what the Koll Co. or any tract speculator pays toward public services that their project will require over the years, it is seldom enough.

GEORGE R. ERBER

Huntington Beach