Coastal Commission OKs wetland destruction

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Local environmentalists are split about the wisdom of

the California Coastal Commission’s 7-5 decision Tuesday to allow a

developer to destroy a small wetland in exchange for restoring a larger

habitat elsewhere in the city.

The Robert Mayer Corp. can now move forward with its plan to build luxury

townhomes on land that includes O.7 acres of “isolated and degraded”

wetland at the northwest corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Beach

Boulevard, said Steve Bone, the company’s president. To make up for the

loss, the developer agreed to spruce up 2.8 acres of wetland across town

at the Donald G. Shipley Nature Center, he said.

“It’s a joke,” said Debbie Cook, a member of the preservation group Bolsa

Chica Land Trust.

Because the nature center already serves as parkland, the public gains

little in exchange for losing a sensitive habitat, she said.

But Dave Carlberg, a member of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, another

preservation group, said he recognizes the upside of restoring an area

four times greater in size.

“It’s a trade off,” he said. “We can gain by losing a wetland someplace

else.”

City officials supported the commission’s decision. The city issued a

permit approving the land swap, but the matter was appealed July 28 by

Coastal Commission staff.

The wetland sits on 23 acres where the developer plans to build 175

townhomes, with construction expected to begin in June, Bone said. The

homes should be ready by February 2002, he said. The restoration of the

nature center should be completed by April 2001.