ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE

Considering the long fight over the proposed development of Bolsa Chica, the continued paring down of the project is welcome news. A decade ago, plans called for 6,000 homes. Last week the number dropped to 1,235.

The homes would be built on a mesa overlooking the wetlands, adjacent to Huntington Beach and abutting Pacific Coast Highway. Although badly degraded over much of their expanse due to years of oil pumping, the wetlands still provide a home for migrating birds. They also supply a nice oasis in busy modern life, a chance to stroll through the part that is a state park and enjoy the silence.

While it would be ideal to leave the entire property undeveloped, the owner, Koll Real Estate Group, has the right to develop the tract, so long as it complies with zoning laws and the strictures of legislation like the California Coastal Act. Just last week Koll announced that it had reduced the number of homes it planned to build on the mesa from 2,400 to 1,235.

The Coastal Commission is scheduled to consider the latest Koll plan at its meeting Thursday. Environmentalists have argued that the entire development should be judged anew, but that’s a gamble not worth taking. It has required years of piecemeal adjustments, compromise and the assembling of participants at various levels of government to get the project to the point where it’s as beneficial to the public as it is now. Picking at a string here or there could cause the deal to unravel. Trying to start from scratch could result in thousands more homes overlooking the wetlands, now that the California economy has rebounded and developers are eager to build houses again.

In February the state bought 880 acres of wetlands, including land on which houses would have been built. The state plans to restore the acreage as a public wildlife area.

Money for the purchase came from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which contributed $79 million in exchange for being allowed to expand. Koll received $25 million; the rest will be used to create an inlet connecting the wetlands and the ocean.

California once had more than 50,000 acres of wetlands. Development reduced that number to about 13,000 acres. Bolsa Chica, totaling 1,300 acres, constitutes the biggest wetland in Southern California. Restoring this important regional asset should be a priority. A reduction in the number of homes to be built on the mesa should be regarded as a welcome development, not an occasion to revisit the entire project.