Assemblyman Has Plan to Buy Bolsa Chica Land

In the latest of a long series of maneuvers to protect one of Southern California’s largest remaining open coastal areas, a state assemblyman announced Wednesday that he will introduce a bill requesting $25 million in state funds to acquire the Bolsa Chica mesa.

“It’s important to preserve and protect open space, and this is one of the last parcels of open space in Orange County,” Assemblyman Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) said of the bill he expects to introduce by Friday.

Harman’s bill, if enacted, would earmark $25 million, provided the money is matched by other sources, possibly including the federal government. Though the land has never been formally assessed, the assemblyman said, he estimates its value at about $100 million.

“What this bill would do is provide a funding mechanism, seed money to show the property owner that there’s a willing buyer who has the funding necessary to purchase the property.”

Lucy Dunn, a spokeswoman for Hearthside Homes Inc., which is part of a partnership that owns the 212-acre site, said Wednesday that she was not aware of the bill.

“Mr. Harman has never talked to us about this,” she said. “There is no buyer who has ever approached us, we have no knowledge of any entity interested in purchasing, and anything else I can’t respond to.”

Evan Henry, president of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, which has long opposed any development at Bolsa Chica, said Wednesday that his organization--of which Harman is a member--welcomes the assemblyman’s efforts and is planning a major campaign to help raise matching funds. Since beginning fund-raising efforts about seven years ago, his organization has raised only about $80,000 toward purchase of the land, Henry said. The reason, he said, is the owners have not said they are willing to sell the land.

“You need a willing seller,” he said. “As soon as we get that kind of commitment, there would be lots of funds available.”

Dunn said that the owners “would absolutely look at all legitimate offers” to buy the land.