Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center reopens

Kenneth Ma

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center of Orange

County reopened its doors Monday after being closed to sick and injured

animals for nearly a week.”It is great to be able to do that,” said Gary

Gorman, the center’s facilities manager. “I think it is wonderful to get

back to where we were.”

The center stopped taking in new animals, other than oil-spill

survivors, July 18 because it lacked money to pay for improvements

required to keep its city permit.

After media stories reported the center’s closing, Gorman said, people

across Southern California opened their pocketbooks and donated nearly

$20,000. About $8,000 is needed to operate the center monthly.

The donations will allow the center to remain open until more

fund-raising is done, he said.

Gorman said he hopes to keep the center open through the end of the

year. To do so, he said, the center plans to hold fund-raisers, garner

more corporate donations, get long-term endowments from donors and

encourage more people to join Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy,

which operates the center.

Located on a 2-acre lot behind the AES Power Plant on Pacific Coast

Highway, the center has helped heal such creatures as pelicans, opossums,

coyotes, gray foxes and squirrels. Several trailer-like buildings

outfitted with outdoor enclosures, pools and an outdoor washing area

serve as care facilities for the animals. The center accepts 15 to 20 new

animals daily.Earlier this month, the Planning Commission gave the center

more time to fulfill unmet requirements on its permit, which was issued

in 1998. The commission plans to reevaluate the conditions in November.

Gorman said some of the conditions include getting a building permit

for an on-site trailer, paving a 25,000-square-foot parking lot,

modifying its main trailer in accordance with the Americans with

Disabilities Act, and improving curbs and gutters on Newland Street or

paying $18,000 in lieu of the work.

Rich Barnard, a spokesman for the city, said the permit requirements

are reasonable, although the center is a worthwhile project.

“I think the city has to have their rules and regulations for

applicants seeking development in the city,” Barnard said. “The

requirements are nothing new.”

Barnard said the center will probably receive more donations now

because a “lot of people care a great deal about it.”The center hopes to

complete the conditions -- at a cost of $45,000 to $50,000 -- by the end

of the year, Gorman said.