Bolsa Chica Plan Sent Back to State Panel

A much-debated Bolsa Chica development plan must be sent back to the California Coastal Commission for further review, a judge confirmed Friday.

The ruling, which cheered environmentalists but disappointed developer Koll Real Estate Group, could delay the early 1998 start of home construction by a few months, Koll officials said. But it is not expected to derail the project, said Koll Senior Vice President Lucy Dunn.

The move is the latest legal twist in the long-running dispute over the building of 2,500 homes on the mesa above the ecologically fragile Bolsa Chica wetlands near Huntington Beach.

State Superior Court Judge Judith McConnell in May concluded the commission had erred in its original January 1996 approval of homes both on the mesa and in the wetlands. Residential development in California wetlands is prohibited, McConnell said in a decision that also barred the filling of Warner Pond.

The wetlands were sold to the state in February, canceling development there. However, the size of Koll’s remaining mesa project might be reduced if Warner Pond is not filled.

So, the developer on Friday sought a change so that only portions of its plan would need new commission review. The judge declined Koll’s request, delighting environmentalists who oppose the mesa project.