JAMES W. SILVA -- Community Commentary

Ever since I was sworn in as a county supervisor back in 1994, I have

worked toward establishing a regional park in the 2nd District.

My district is the only one in Orange County without a regional park,

and I believe that the citizens who reside here deserve a regional park

in their own backyard.

Currently, there is a proposed regional park in Huntington Beach --

referred to as Linear Park -- being considered for development. It would

sit on the eastern edge of the Bolsa Chica mesa, bordered by Seapointe

Drive. It has been planned and designed, and the money to construct the

park has been set aside.

Unfortunately, the land has been included in the current litigation

regarding the construction of the mesa area and is untouchable. The

county owns about half of the land that would encompass the future Linear

Park. The city of Huntington Beach also owns a small portion of the land.

The remaining portions are privately owned by the company that is

developing the mesa.

They have developed a local coastal plan that must be approved by the

California Coastal Commission before construction may take place on the

mesa. The commission has approved three previous plans that the developer

has submitted for the project and is planning to vote on the newest plan

in November.

Each time the Coastal Commission has approved the previous plans for

the Bolsa Chica area, lawsuits have been filed by special interest groups

to stop all construction on the mesa. The courts in turn rule on the

matter, and the landowner must go back through the approval process with

the Coastal Commission, incorporating modifications made in previous

plans in order to comply with the court rulings.

You may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with Linear

Park? To put it simply, everything.

The land intended for use as Linear Park, while owned by a developer,

is part of the local coastal plan that the Coastal Commission will be

voting on in November. It cannot be separated out from the whole. There

have been suggestions to simply remove the land planned for the park from

the local coastal plan and begin construction.

Construction on Linear Park can only occur in the event that an end is

put to the special interest lawsuits holding up this project and the

landowner is granted the right to build on its land. Until the landowner

is allowed to develop its land, Linear Park cannot be constructed.

I have also been working with Brig. Gen. Guido J. Portante, commanding

officer of the Los Alamitos Joint Operations Reserve Center. Together, we

were successful in establishing the Olympic Training Facility on the base

in Los Alamitos earlier this year. Within the last few weeks, we have

been involved in discussions on the idea of using some of the base

property for a regional park. At this point, the discussions that have

been taking place are preliminary. As such, there have been no plans made

as of yet nor has anything been decided.

We have, however, concentrated our sights on about 80 acres of the

base bordered on the south by Lampson Avenue and runways on the north.

This park would have both active and passive characteristics to it, with

possible jogging and walking paths encompassing the peaceful, grassy and

tree-lined center area. Once again, these are just ideas as nothing has

been planned as of yet.

I have asked various groups in the Seal Beach and Los Alamitos area to

provide me with feedback as to whether to pursue this idea or not. So

far, the responses I have received have been positive, and I am looking

forward to hearing more from my constituents as to the consensus in the

community regarding a regional park in that area.

I hope that this clears up any misinformation that has been reported

by other sources. As I stated before, the park in the Los Alamitos-Seal

Beach area is just an idea, and I would be happy to answer any questions

regarding its location.

Please contact either myself or Don Hughes of my staff at (714)

834-3220 if you have any questions or would just like to provide

necessary feedback to me.

I look forward to the start of construction on the proposed Linear

Park in Huntington Beach and working with my constituents to develop a

neighborhood-friendly regional park at the Los Alamitos Joint Operations

Reserve Center.

* JAMES W. SILVA is the Orange County supervisor in the 2nd District

serving Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa.