Hellman Ranch Project Closer to Approval

After more than 15 years of development Ping-Pong, the bitterly contested Hellman Ranch project could finally be moving toward winning approval from a tentative community and a wary City Council.

Since 1981, the 231-acre parcel stretching from Seal Beach Boulevard to just east of the San Gabriel River Channel, has been fodder for all-night City Council sessions, administrative in-fighting and defiant resignations by city officials.

But now, developers and city officials are hopeful that newly revised plans, which include 70 homes, finally will receive approval from this growth-shy community.

In addition to the 3,800- to 4,200-square-foot homes, which would be offered for up to $750,000, the project includes an 18-hole public golf course. Also, the 10-acre Gum Grove Park would be deeded to the city, and about 33 acres of fresh and saltwater marshes would be restored. A 1.8-acre commercial center would be built near Pacific Coast Highway and 1st Street.

The $40-million to $50-million project received unanimous approval from the city’s Planning Commission two weeks ago. It received a blessing from the city’s Environmental Quality Control Board.

When the City Council convenes its public hearing on the project Monday night, it will be considering more than a dozen resolutions and ordinances that, if approved, will in effect give formal go-ahead to the plans.

“As much turmoil as there was about the earlier projects, we have an equal amount of support for this,” a confident City Manager Keith Till said. “There was a debate early on over the archeology, and archeology is still a concern, but we’ll make sure it’s handled with sensitivity.”

The debate about looking for potential sites of Native American artifacts and possible excavation has enraged residents in public meetings and private discussions. Members of a city archeological advisory committee have resigned, a professional archeologist had his city contract terminated and Native Americans have held candlelight vigils because of a possible ancient burial ground.

In March, then-Mayor Gwen Forsthye received a rifle cartridge through the mail in what some speculated was an attempt to intimidate the council and halt the Hellman Ranch project. The city’s director of development services, Lee Whittenberg, received a similar package last year.

Despite the earlier battles, however, the city’s archeological committee recently approved a research plan, helping move the project forward.

Mayor Marilyn Bruce Hastings said that, while she hasn’t made up her mind on the project, early input from residents is positive.

“Most of the people think it’s a tremendous win-win situation for the city. They feel that so few homes built on the property, the wetlands restoration and the green golf course are good for the city.”

Dave Bartlett, a planner of the Hellman Ranch project, said he is “cautiously optimistic” that the council will approve the plan this time.

“This is the fourth proposal that has gone to the city,” Bartlett said. “We are expecting to present our project, and we hope there are no objections.”

This is the first proposal to involve the Hellman family, Bartlett said. Earlier proposals involved land sales to other developers.

Perhaps most controversial of those earlier plans was one by Mola Development Corp., which initially included 773 homes and was later scaled back to 329 houses. The project died after a lengthy lawsuit.

The first plan ever considered on the site, in 1981, included 600 apartments and 400 homes. It was later rejected.

Bartlett said the controversy caused from earlier plans gave the Hellman project a jumping off point.

“We have listened to the community and the members of the council. We have listened to the neighbors up there on the hill adjacent to the property, and we’ve listened to the concerns of the planning commissions and the various boards involved,” Bartlett said. “And the result is a very balanced plan that has benefits to the community and the environment.”

City Councilwoman Patty Campbell said she expects more than one meeting will be needed for all the public comments.

“I can’t see a project that large and that complex taking only one night,” she said. “It is too big a project, and there is too much to go over.”

If the council ultimately approves the project, it will then go to the California Coastal Commission. Bartlett said construction could not begin until at least the middle of next year.