Coastal Panel Tables Plan for Hellman Development

Despite a outpouring of support for an exclusive golf course community on the Hellman Ranch property in Seal Beach, the California Coastal Commission unanimously voted Tuesday to table the issue until the panel has more facts.

The project, the latest effort to develop the land after more than two decades of bitter disputes, will be discussed again in June.

Commissioners were overwhelmed by more than 150 people who packed a conference room at the Hyatt Hotel in Long Beach and an inch-thick stack of documents from their staff outlining concerns, from the amount of wetlands to be restored to the preservation of Native American artifacts.

“Unfortunately, this is a wetlands restoration designed around a golf course, not the other way around,” said Coastal Commission Vice President Sara Wan. “We need to turn it into a wetlands restoration project before it can meet approval.”

Other commissioners were more sympathetic to the plans.

“I see the benefits of this project,” said Shirley S. Dettloff, a Huntington Beach councilwoman and Orange County’s representative on the commission. “We’re getting a trail system [and] open vistas, even if it is a golf course. I’m not a golfer, but at least we get open space, something that will be a benefit the community.”

The biggest sticking point was Hellman Ranch Co.’s proposal to restore 28 acres of salt marsh, the same amount of marshland that would be lost in the project. Historically, the commission has required three to four times as much restoration on coastal sites.

Commissioners feared approving less than a 3-to-1 ratio of wetlands to development would set a precedent.

Despite the unresolved concerns, some supporters of the project left the four-hour public hearing feeling optimistic.

“We believe the decision will be the project as we have proposed it,” said Hellman project manager Dave Bartlett. “It’s the most feasible, the least environmentally damaging and its best for the coast.”

He said the plans for a golf course, 70 upscale homes and restored wetlands in the 196-acre tract is the best ever presented in the contentious history of the project. Many Seal Beach residents, including those who rallied against the last development proposal a decade ago, agreed. They argue that the fact thousands of traditionally divided Seal Beach residents could sign a petition in favor of the development was reason enough for the commission to approve it.

“This is as good as it’s going to get,” Seal Beach Councilwoman Patty Campbell told the commission. “The fact that this city, which has always opposed development, is united of support of this speaks volumes about the project.”

Sierra Club activist Mark Massara said the commission and people on both sides of the debate missed a key point.

“It’s unfortunate that as little as 40 years ago we had this great natural estuary made up of thousands of acres of wetlands that has now been reduced to an argument over whether to preserve 28 or 36 acres, while the balance of the property is going to be developed with future restoration efforts foreclosed,” he said. “In 50 years, we’ve lost everything. We’re reduced to arguing over tidbits.”