Hearthside Homes bends

Dave Brooks

A developer seeking to build homes on the upper portion of the Bolsa

Chica mesa has submitted an 11th-hour proposal to the California

Coastal Commission in hopes of ending a decades-old debate on the

fate of the land.

Coastal Commission staff members released landowner Ray Pacini’s

proposal Tuesday, detailing what appears to be a much more

environmentally sensitive housing project than the one Pacini, chief

executive officer of Hearthside Homes, had proposed months earlier

for the same plot.

The Coastal Commission denied that development in October and

asked Pacini to return with a scaled-down project more in line with

guidelines set forth by the California Coastal Act.

A major change in the new development was Pacini’s elimination of

a plan to make the neighborhood a gated community. In the past,

Pacini had said the gated community concept would greatly increase

the value of individual homes, but that plan was criticized by

Coastal Commission staff, who said any development in a coastal zone

must not hinder public access to beaches or coastal areas.

“If they take the gates away, that’s a huge change,” said Flossy

Horgan of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. “We’ve always felt that it was

very important that this project be open to public access.”

After a brief review, staff with the Coastal Commission said it

had appeared that Pacini and company had made progress with its

latest plan.

“We’re not sure if all the changes they made were adequate,” said

Coastal Commission senior staff member Teresa Henry. “But they are

certainly on the right track.”

The new development still must go through an extensive review

process, but could be approved by March at a Coastal Commission

hearing, setting in motion a series of land transactions that would

finalize conservation and development plans for the controversial

wetlands.

For years, Pacini tangled with environmentalists over the fate of

the Bolsa Chica, eventually agreeing to sell a large chunk of the

northern portion of the wetlands to federal agencies for restoration

using mitigation money from the Long Beach Harbor expansion.

Pacini next met opposition from members of the Bolsa Chica Land

Trust over plans to develop the wetlands and natural areas sandwiched

between Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

After a judge ruled that Pacini’s development plan violated the

Coastal Act, Pacini and environmentalists actively campaigned for the

successful passage of Proposition 50, the Clean Water and Coastal

Protection Bond of 2002, which eventually set aside $65 million in

state bonds to buy 103 acres of the lower portion of Bolsa Chica.

Pacini did not return several phone calls for comment for this

article, but has made past statements that he will only agree to take

the state money if he is allowed to push forward with plans to

develop the upper portion of the mesa.

In October, Coastal Commissioners balked at his ultimatum to

approve a gated 379-home community on the upper portion of the Bolsa

Chica or risk jeopardizing the $65-million deal. By the end of the

hearing, Pacini agreed to back off from his all-or-nothing posturing

and return in a few months with a scaled-down proposal.

The new development Pacini is suggesting has been reduced to 347

homes, eliminating the guard gates and entryways in exchange for

complete public access to the facility. The public will also be able

to walk along the entire perimeter of the development, which will

have an increased buffer from environmentally protected habitats of

Eucalyptus trees, tarplant and burrowing owl habitats.

Dubbed the Brightwater Development, the neighborhood will sit on

68 acres of land that run along Los Patos Avenue, with homes that

range from 1,600 to 4,000 square feet, two public parks and a 3-acre

native habitat protection and enhancement area.

“The Bolsa Chica Land Trust is anxious to review the latest

Hearthside proposal and plans to continue to monitor the situation,”

Horgan said. “We look forward to attending the Coastal Commission

hearing in March.”