FRESH FACES

Federal officials on Monday cleared a key roadblock to the civilian use of surplus Navy housing in the harbor area by announcing a plan to protect the endangered Palos Verdes blue butterflies that live on the property.

“It’s a win for the blue butterfly and a win for the community,” said Rep. Jane Harman (D-Torrance), who worked on the plan. “The bottom line is that the reuse proposal remains intact and there will be habitat set aside on adjacent Navy property.”

Harman and a variety of federal, Navy and local officials unveiled the protection plan during a news conference at the housing site, which is in San Pedro and Rancho Palos Verdes.

The Navy land, which contains 545 homes on wide curving streets, was used by military personnel assigned to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard until the government closed the base five years ago.

In April 1999, as part of the transition to civilian use, the Los Angeles City Council approved a variety of new tenants for the property, including Marymount College, Rolling Hills Preparatory School and the Harbor/UCLA Research and Educational Institute, as well as two programs for the homeless, the Crossings and the Kenny Nickelson Memorial Foundation.

But the project came to a halt several months later when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raised concerns about the endangered Palos Verdes blue, a rare species that lives almost exclusively on the Navy land.

The delicate creature is no bigger than a fingernail. Fish and Wildlife officials estimate that several hundred of the butterflies inhabit the area.

Federal law requires the government to review proposed projects that might interfere with endangered species to determine whether they will harm the wildlife in question.

Under the plan, a breeding area will be preserved at an old fuel depot on the property, as will any flight corridors and other undeveloped grounds used by the species. In addition, any new construction--from buildings to fences--will be restricted to certain dimensions or locations so they will not hurt the species.

The Fish and Wildlife Service now has 60 days to agree to the plan. Officials say they expect the agency to approve the protection measures because Fish and Wildlife officials participated directly in their formulation.

“For the most part, this is a done deal,” said Bonnie Christensen, of San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United and a member of the first civilian reuse committee. “We can live with these proposals. Now we need to get moving because the housing is deteriorating.”

Harman, who gave up her congressional seat to run unsuccessfully for governor in 1998, won it back last fall. During her campaign, she said she helped bring together local agencies, Fish and Wildlife officials, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of the Interior in an attempt to implement the city’s reuse plan and protect the butterfly.

During the talks, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt made three trips to Los Angeles to discuss the issue and tour the site. The effort, officials said, helped overcome Fish and Wildlife’s resistance to the city’s reuse proposal.

“We’ve got a plan the environmentalists are happy with, the community is happy with and the new tenants are happy with,” said Doane Liu, director of community services for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office. “It’s been a long, drawn-out process to get here.”