Coastal Panel Staff Deals Blow to Development

The state Coastal Commission staff has dramatically changed its stance on the Hellman Ranch project in Seal Beach, drawing cheers from environmentalists but harsh criticism from the developer, who warned the change could doom the project.

Although the commission staff initially agreed to the plan, it now says that replacing wetlands with an 18-hole golf course flies in the face of state Coastal Act policies intended to protect the fast-vanishing marshes along the California coast.

Calling its earlier stance “in error,” the staff is now recommending that the golf course be struck from the plan for 70 single-family homes to be built on one of the last large pieces of vacant land in Seal Beach.

The developer will “absolutely not” go ahead with the project if the commission supports the staff position that the golf course should be canceled, said Dave Bartlett, land use consultant and project point man for the landowners, the Hellman family.

“A housing-only project is not what this community wants,” he said. “I’m shocked. After five months of processes, of negotiations with staff, of working out the details, to have that hard work undone in three weeks--it’s just shocking.”

Key to the current fracas is whether wetlands can be destroyed to build a golf course, even if other land is used to re-create wetlands. Environmentalists had maintained the project is flawed because it called for filling wetlands.

Now, environmentalists who had lambasted the staff’s earlier stance are applauding its change of heart, saying it underscores the Coastal Act’s power to protect wetlands.

“I think it’s a victory for all wetlands in California,” said Susan Jordan, board member of the League for Coastal Protection, an environmental group.

“This is dramatic news,” said Mark Massara, Sierra Club director of coastal programs. “Golf courses are the gas guzzlers of coastal land use, and there are already too many of them. Minus the golf course, this property becomes a really exciting wetlands restoration opportunity.”

Experts say that Southern California has lost as much as 90% of its coastal wetlands to filling, dredging, flood control and other development.

The full commission will vote on the Hellman project June 10 in Santa Barbara. The Hellman family plans to send two busloads of supporters from Seal Beach, while another bus will carry environmental activists.

The controversy is provoking memories of the fierce fight over Bolsa Chica, the famous wetlands farther south along the coast that eventually were purchased by the state and are being restored with funds from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

The ports have become a source of funding for wetlands restoration projects along the coast because, when they expand into the ocean, they destroy marine habitat that they must replace.

Future expansion plans could mean the ports would need to restore more wetlands as compensation, which in turn could mean money to restore the Hellman wetlands, says the staff report dated Tuesday.

The staff’s rejection of the golf course contradicts an earlier report that the commission debated at its April meeting before a standing room-only crowd, finally delaying a vote to seek more information.

Supporters say the Hellman proposal is the best ever crafted for the 196-acre tract, which has seen three prior projects fade amid controversy. It calls for a gated community of 70 homes, the golf course, 28 acres of restored wetlands and 16 acres earmarked for future wetlands or open space.

Peter Douglas, the coastal commission’s executive director, said Wednesday that it was largely his decision to change the report after consulting with the staff.

The staff “made a stretch” earlier when it considered this a restoration project, Douglas said. “During the hearing, it became more and more clear that this was not a restoration project with a golf course attached to make it feasible, but a golf course with mitigation,” he said.

Douglas said several other factors prompted the change, including an earlier legal decision on Bolsa Chica.

This was not an easy decision, he said. “We struggled hard with that, looking down the road, thinking in 50 years what we would like to see on this California coast.”

But Bartlett, consultant to the Hellman family, said the loss of the golf course would doom the project, leaving luxury homes sitting alongside severely degraded and unsightly wetlands. Homeowners would be plagued with mosquitoes, and the Hellmans would be liable for a huge tract of industrial land below the homes, he said.

If the project is not approved with the golf course, Bartlett said, the Hellmans would likely wait for the commission’s membership to change before moving forward with future plans.

The project has had staunch support from Seal Beach City Hall, where officials Wednesday were stunned by the news.

“It’s strange,” City Manager Keith Till said. “It’s quite disappointing. They definitely lack a foundation of common sense. I’d just as soon leave it at that. We’re still very hopeful we’ll get the support of the Coastal Commission members.”

News of the staff’s reversal overshadowed word that Seal Beach won a legal fight that had posed another threat to the project.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert E. Thomas ruled Wednesday that, contrary to a lawsuit filed by preservationists, the city had taken adequate measures to protect prehistoric American Indian remains on the Hellman land.

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Reversal of Opinion

In a surprising reversal, the California Coastal Commission staff said it erred in approving this upscale golf course community coupled with wetlands restoration. It advised coastal commissioners to approve the 70 homes and wetlands restoration, but to deny the golf course--an element the developer says is crucial to the project.

Sources: Hellman Properties, California Coastal Commission, Times reports; Researched by PHIL DAVIS / For The Times