An Important Win for Wetlands

The Fourth District Court of Appeal’s recent ruling on the controversial Bolsa Chica development lends strong support to the sensible notion that fewer houses in the neighborhood of the wetlands will be better for the local environment.

The decision was an affirmation of a lower court ruling that found the Coastal Commission in error when it approved 3,300 homes for one of California’s largest remaining wetlands areas.

That earlier decision provided a framework for a cutback in planned houses to the current 1,235. The ruling is significant because it also gives opponents unhappy with any development at Bolsa Chica another day before a commission likely bearing the stamp of Gov. Gray Davis.

The original plan would have been a devastating intrusion on an area that has stirred passions in Huntington Beach and along the waterfront.

The ruling was the latest in a string of major events along the way in a continuing battle that has gone on for decades.

Many local environmentalists would prefer that nothing at all be built at the site, a belief which became apparent recently when a divided Huntington Beach City Council voted to begin annexing the wetlands in anticipation of pending development.

Whatever the outcome on this round, the community already has won a sharply reduced plan, which would restrict the homes to the mesa overlooking the wetlands.

So the current situation represents a victory in itself, the product of years of compromise and negotiation. In 1997, the state purchased 880 acres of wetlands, including land on which houses would have been built, and the state has plans to restore the acreage.

The courts in this case properly have upheld the value and significance of wetlands. The state used to have more than 50,000 acres. Development has reduced that to about 13,000 acres, with Bolsa Chica having about a tenth of the total amount.

This is an important battleground. The next round in the courts will be significant for the site, and significant for the notion that wetlands in California must be given priority.