Council approves Bolsa Chica development

The controversial plan to develop 111 homes and a park near the Bolsa Chica wetlands took another step forward Monday, as the City Council voted to approve the latest version of a project that has set developers and environmentalists at odds for more than a decade.

The council voted 5 to 1, with Mayor Pro Tem Cathy Green absent, in favor of a detailed proposal that laid out streets, park space and other components of the plan by Corona-based Shea Homes. Dozens of residents, including members of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, attended the meeting to voice their opposition to the project, which they said would damage the wetlands and lead to traffic congestion in the adjoining neighborhood.

The council had approved an earlier plan from Shea in 2002, but the California Coastal Commission modified the proposal last year to include fewer home lots and more open space. Last summer, the council voted to approve a broad version of the revised plan, and the proposal before the council Monday was a more detailed version of that plan.

“I’m convinced that we’re ready to move forward,” said Councilman Don Hansen.

Laer Pearce, a spokesman for Shea Homes, said he was “very, very pleased” with the vote, but added that because the developer still needed further approval from the Coastal Commission and others, he couldn’t speculate on when construction would actually begin.

In the meantime, the Land Trust plans to continue its campaign against the development, according to Executive Director Flossie Horgan.

“Hope springs eternal,” she said. “We had hoped that the new information that we brought to the council clearly demonstrated the need to at least continue this meeting.”

A contentious issue at the hearing was the environmental impact report the city did on the property in 2002, which some speakers insisted was out of date due to recent drops in groundwater. Former Mayor Connie Boardman, a board member of the Land Trust, was among those calling for the city to evaluate the land again before making a decision on development.

“The data you’re relying on tonight, some of it is over 10 years old,” she said. “Certainly, conditions on the site have changed since that time.”

Both the developers and opponents to the project said emergency repairs done last year on the nearby Wintersburg Channel had helped cause the recent reduction in groundwater. However, Ron Metzler, a project manager for Shea, said the depletion was also due largely to seasonal changes and the recent drought in California, and that Shea had already done extensive studies of the property’s groundwater.

In addition, Metzler said, the developer had more than addressed environmental concerns. The original plan approved by the council in 2002 included 170 home lots and 3.7 acres of open space, which have since been changed to 111 home lots and 23.1 conserved acres. Shea’s proposal also includes the creation of new wetlands and the installation of a flood protection barrier, which several residents said they favored Monday.

Councilwoman Jill Hardy cast the only “no” vote on the project. She agreed that the property required a new environmental impact report and called it irresponsible to create more homes that would further drain the city’s limited water supply.

“I hope that, should this project get approved, their [Shea’s] predictions turn out, but I’m not confident in it,” she said.

City Editor MICHAEL MILLER can be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].