Bolsa Chica Project Hits Legal Setback

SANTA ANA —  The battle over a development at Bolsa Chica took a new legal twist Friday when a judge ruled that one part of the project’s wetlands restoration plan requires more public review--a decision that has both sides declaring victory.

The judge’s ruling clearly left differing interpretations over the fate of a project that has drawn widespread controversy for decades. The mix of salt marshes and oil fields that makes up Bolsa Chica next to Huntington Beach is considered the largest wetlands ecosystem in Southern California now in private hands.

Environmentalists cheered in the hallway outside the courtroom, saying the ruling by Superior Court Judge William F. McDonald could invalidate recent approval of the 3,300-home project by the California Coastal Commission.

“The door is open again,” said attorney Phil Seymour, representing the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, one of several groups challenging the development. “Bolsa Chica has another chance.”

But a representative for the Koll Real Estate Group said the judge’s decision was nothing more than a “fix-it” ticket that only requires more public review for a proposed tidal inlet in the wetlands restoration plan.

“It’s actually good news,” said company Senior Vice President Lucy Dunn, noting that the judge upheld major parts of the project’s environmental review. The ruling left the project, which also has been approved by the Board of Supervisors, “fully intact,” Dunn said.

Deputy County Counsel Jack Golden said county planners are still analyzing what effect the decision might have on the Jan. 11 Coastal Commission approval.

It was the same story at the Coastal Commission.

“We don’t know enough on the lawsuit to comment effectively. We’d have to look at what the court decided and how it impacts the process,” said Steve Rynas, who oversees Orange County projects for the commission.

Meanwhile, officials said a new public review for the tidal inlet proposal could take about six months. After that review, the Board of Supervisors would vote on the proposal.

The Koll plan calls for building 900 homes in the wetlands area--the aspect of the project stirring the most vehement protest--and an additional 2,400 homes on a nearby mesa. In exchange for the wetlands development, Koll has assembled a $48-million plan to restore the remaining wetlands.

That plan includes the tidal inlet, which planners say would allow ocean water to feed into the Bolsa Chica salt marshes more efficiently.

Nearly a century ago, construction of a tidal dam blocked the tidal entrance to the wetlands. Currently, ocean water must pass through Anaheim Bay and Huntington Harbour to reach the Bolsa Chica wetlands, a process that takes more than two weeks.

By contrast, the proposed 250-foot-wide tidal inlet would create a direct opening from the ocean to the wetlands.

In issuing his ruling to a packed courtroom, McDonald said the public had been denied “meaningful opportunity” to comment on the tidal inlet alternative, included late in the final package.

John Flynn, an attorney representing Koll, contended officials did the environmental review for the tidal inlet, and the public had been given ample opportunity to respond once the inlet was included in the final plan.

Project opponents also had urged the judge to overturn another section of the final environmental document involving Native American archeological finds on the land. McDonald denied that request, saying the study addressed those issues adequately.

The suit heard Friday was brought by the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, the city of Seal Beach, the Gabrielino Shoshone Nation, Huntington Beach Tomorrow and the Sierra Club.

It was one of two suits filed against Orange County after the Board of Supervisors approved the plan in late 1994. Both contended the county’s environmental review of the project was flawed.

The second of those suits, filed by local schools over fears the new houses would lead to classroom overcrowding, was not involved in Friday’s hearing and is pending.

In recent days, some environmentalists had been subdued about their chances of winning in court, saying such suits often lose at the Superior Court level.

On Friday evening, project opponents were celebrating.

“This means there’s hope for the environment--and a lot of us haven’t had hope for the environment, seeing what’s happening in Washington and Sacramento,” said Marcia Hanscom, who deals with Bolsa Chica for the Sierra Club.

But Koll’s Dunn downplayed the ruling. “It’s a little process glitch,” she said. “It’s not a substance glitch.”