CITY FOCUS:

A hotly contested proposed development on open land near the Bolsa Chica Wetlands is coming back to the Coastal Commission at its meeting in San Diego Wednesday, and both sides are preparing for a fight.

While developer Shea Homes and the city are requesting 38.5 acres be allowed for residential development, 8.2 acres for park land, and 3.3 acres be set aside as protected open space, Coastal Commission staff members have a different idea. They want 31 acres set aside for conservation on the western side of the property, while only about 19 acres on the northeast end could be used for housing, possibly at higher density than large single-family detached homes.

A Coastal Commission hearing in May was more in line with the Shea plan for the land, but commission staff appeared to support some of the objections of environmental groups like the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. That group’s members said much of the land was protected wetlands or bird habitat at that meeting, and that protected land needed a buffer from development as well.

By the next hearing in July, the staff report had shifted so much further toward the Land Trust’s position that Shea and the city’s representatives asked for more time to respond, postponing a hearing on the issue till next week.

But commission staffers haven’t shifted their recommendations much, except to say that one parcel they call wetlands is four acres rather than eight.

As a result, opponents of the development are happier about the report than supporters. Land Trust member Mark Bixby, who has spearheaded the fight against the development and keeps allies updated via e-mail, said he felt the commission mostly saw things his way.

“The Land Trust supports the staff recommendation,” Bixby said. “It’s pretty much the same as July. I’m looking forward to having this meeting.”

The San Diego location is easier to get to than July’s meeting in San Luis Obispo and should allow numerous sympathizers to show up and donate time to Land Trust presenters, Bixby added.

Shea Properties spokesman Laer Pearce said he felt optimistic as well, but not because he agreed with the report. He called its logic obviously flawed and said he believed he could convince the coastal commission to move back to its May recommendations.

“It has no scientific validation,” he said. “There’s nothing in the historical record to validate what it says. It’s like tee-ball to rebut it. That’s what we’re working on, and we’re hopeful.”