Bolsa Chica Development Moves Ahead

Developer Hearthside Homes is moving forward with plans to build 387 homes on the upper portion of the two-tier Bolsa Chica mesa, while letting the courts decide the fate of the rest of its land.

“It appears that everyone agrees that this is where development should go,” said Lucy Dunn, Hearthside’s executive vice president. “There was no opposition to development on the upper bench at any time by any group.”

This is only the latest twist in the tale of the Bolsa Chica mesa, where a marina, hotel and 5,700 homes were envisioned. Plans have repeatedly been scaled back because of legal challenges by environmentalists. Hearthside’s last proposal, which also was challenged, included plans to build as many as 1,235 homes on the upper and lower parts of the 230-acre mesa.

Environmental activists have argued that any development on the lower tier would harm 1,200 acres of wetlands below that the state is spending $100 million to restore. The California Coastal Commission agreed, ruling in November that development had to be limited to the upper portion of the mesa.

Landowner Signal Landmark and Hearthside, which manages Signal’s assets, are challenging the decision in court.

“We’re not conceding the lower [tier],” Dunn said. “This is a way to move forward with part of the project while the rest gets sorted out.”

In addition to 387 single-family homes, Hearthside has proposed an underground reservoir and 29 acres of open space on the 105-acre development site.

Activists remained unhappy, saying the developer is trying to go forward with the project in a piecemeal fashion.

“It’s important to recognize that the Bolsa Chica is one ecosystem--mesas and wetlands,” said Flossie Horgan of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. “If you build on the mesas, you will affect the wetlands.”

Orange County will release environmental documents about the developer’s 387-home proposal early next year, and hearings before the county Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission will follow. If all goes well, Dunn said, construction of the Brightwater development could begin in mid-2002.

Horgan said the Land Trust will continue to work to buy the mesa, and recently received an anonymous $100,000 donation that has to be matched with local donations. The environmental group has raised $193,000, she said.

The land’s value is unknown, though activists have said that Signal Landmark’s SEC filings list a property value of $135 million.

Activists were dealt a blow last month when Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a bill directing the state to enter into negotiations to buy the mesa.

“Nearly 90% of the Bolsa Chica lowlands and wetlands are already under public ownership,” Davis wrote in his veto message. “The State already has invested major resources in preserving the most significant habitat and parklands . . . . The remaining lands that are the subject of this bill do not have the same statewide potential.”