Guidelines on Filling Wetlands, Habitats Repealed
The California Coastal Commission on Tuesday repealed troublesome provisions in 19-year-old guidelines that developers have tried to use to justify destroying wetlands and other sensitive habitats.
Staff members of the powerful state agency had said attempts by developers to use the guidelines are a confusing, costly waste; litigation over the Bolsa Chica wetlands alone cost taxpayers $25,000.
The guidelines, adopted by the commission in 1981, were supposed to be a temporary means to help cities implement the state’s landmark Coastal Act, which was approved by voters in 1972 and adopted by the Legislature in 1976.
The two provisions in the guidelines that were repealed Tuesday allowed filling of wetlands and environmentally sensitive habitat areas for uses not specified in the Coastal Act.
In recent years, Hearthside Homes, a would-be developer of the Bolsa Chica area near Huntington Beach, used the guidelines to persuade the powerful state agency to approve filling wetlands and nearby fragile habitats for residential development. The project was stopped in the courts, which ruled that the Coastal Act superseded the guidelines.
Commission staffers hope Tuesday’s vote will make unnecessary a comprehensive review of all its policies and guidelines. State Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey) has produced a bill that would require such a review.
The guidelines revised by the commission Tuesday were the impetus for the bill, which is to be heard in an Assembly committee on Tuesday.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
