Bolsa Chica Project Ruling Will Wait

Environmentalists and a developer locked in a decades-long battle over a project proposed for the Bolsa Chica mesa will have to wait three months for a decision.

The three judges making up the state appellate court panel in San Diego said Friday that development of the mesa running alongside the Bolsa Chica wetlands near Huntington Beach was so complex that they would need another 90 days to study the issue. An opinion had been due late this month.

In October, the judges had heard an appeal of a 1997 opinion by San Diego Superior Court Judge Judith McConnell. She had ruled that the California Coastal Commission had erred in 1996 when it gave California Coastal Communities Inc. of Newport Beach permission to build up to 2,400 houses on the mesa. McConnell had cited state law that forbids construction on wetlands.

Both sides in the dispute said they are not discouraged by the delay.

“This project has been pending for 30 years,” said Lucy Dunn, executive vice president of Irvine’s Hearthside Homes, which is now handling the project. “It has been such a battlefield for so long. We will be patient. We think we have some very good arguments for the court to consider and we’re hoping for the best.”

Nancy Donaven, treasurer for the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, the group opposing the development, said she is not surprised by the delay because the issues are complex.