Wildlife care center closes doors, except for emergencies

Kenneth Ma

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center of Orange

County has shut its doors to new animals and will be sending some of its

animals to other facilities because it lacks the funds to pay for

upgrades needed to keep its city permit.

As of Tuesday, the center stopped accepting animals other than those

injured in oil spills, said Gary Gorman, the center’s facilities

manager. It will continue to be on standby to provide emergency care in

case of a spill as part of the state’s Oil Spill Prevention and Response

Network.

Located on a two-acre lot behind the AES Power Plant on Pacific Coast

Highway, the center is a place where more than 100 creatures -- such as

pelicans, opossums, coyotes, gray foxes and squirrels -- have been cared

for and nursed back to health. Animals are treated in trailer-like

buildings outfitted with outdoor enclosures, pools and an outdoor washing

area. The center accepted 15 to 20 new animals daily.

Now, Gorman said, the 75 animals not injured in oil spills will be

rehabilitated, released or sent to other facilities as the center is

slowly shut down. Four paid staffers, including Gorman, have been let go.

“ I am terribly upset by it and want to cry,” Gorman said. “The fact

that we are not getting enough support for it and knowing that all these

animals [the center cannot treat] will die is gut-renching.”

Last week, the Planning Commission gave the center until November to

fulfill a number of requirements that have remained unmet in its two

years of operation.

The Planning Commission’s July 12 decision to give the center until

November met with some controversy. Commissioner Bob Biddle opposed

giving the center more time to comply with the permit requirements.

“I feel it is unfair to give more time when they already have had more

time than [the commission] has given anyone else,” Biddle said.

Biddle said the center was given the extra time because it performs a

worthy service to the community and because of Gorman’s status as a

former planning commissioner. Gorman served from 1992 to 1996.

Commissioner Connie Mandic said no such favoritism occurred.

“I don’t think that Gary has ever asked for special consideration

because he was a former planning commissioner. That’s not his style,” she

said. “These people have tried to meet the conditions, but they have been

inundated with work since day one.”

Among the conditions, the center needs to get a building permit for an

on-site trailer, pave a 25,000-square-foot parking lot, modify its main

trailer in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and

improve curbs and gutters on Newland Street or pay $18,000 in lieu of the

work.

At a meeting Monday night, the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy,

which operates the center, decided the cost for the work needed is more

than its budget can handle.

The conservancy has $53,000 in the bank for the center, Gorman said,

and the improvements will cost between $45,000 and $50,000 to complete.

By shutting down the operations and effectively closing the center, it

may be able to meet the city’s requirements.

The center, which has an annual operating budget of $65,000, gets its

funding from a combination of private and public sources. Though many

cities in Orange County use its services for wildlife care, only Newport

Beach pays for them, Gorman said,

“The majority of our animals come from Huntington Beach,” he said

The center cares for 5,000 animals not injured in oil spills annually.

The animals -- including pelicans, mallard ducks, opossum, raccoons and

herons -- come from as far north as Ventura County, as far south as South

Orange County and as far inland as Henderson, Nev.

“We don’t have the ability to pay people to raise money,” Gorman said.

He said the center has been so busy taking care of animals, there has

not been enough time for fund-raising.

But in light of recent events, Gorman said the center is planning a

fund-raiser. He said he does not know when it might be able to again

start taking in animals, other than oil-spill survivors.