25 years and counting

Tariq Malik

A silver anniversary is always cause for celebration.

That fact has not slipped past resident Linda Moon and the members of

the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a Huntington Beach-based environmental group

aimed at preserving and protecting the city’s wetlands and coastal

resources.

Moon, the group’s president, is gearing up for a Sunday celebration at

Chimayo at the Beach, where Amigos members will congregate at 2 p.m. for

fun, food and music.

“I’m very pleased with what’s happened here,” Moon said. “It’s been a

long, hard drive, and it’s still going on with a lot more left over to do

. . . but I’m pleased.”

Moon, a 25-year resident, is one of the founding members of the

Amigos, a group that has its roots in the League of Women Voters and the

American Assn. of University Women. A 1970 study of the Bolsa Chica by

those groups recommended the need for an independent organization aimed

at preserving the wetlands, the largest in Southern California and a key

way stop for birds traveling along the Pacific Flyway.

“We’re very fortunate as a city to have an organization like the

Amigos in Huntington Beach,” said Mayor Pam Julien Houchen, adding the

group has spawned leaders in a number of arenas. “We’ve seen past mayors,

planning commissioners and community leaders. It’s quite astonishing.”

Bolsa Chica, she added, is certainly one of the oldest continuing

issues in the city.

In 1976, the Amigos opened for business, butting heads with Bolsa

Chica landowner Signal Landmark. Three years later, the group filed a

lawsuit alleging a land-exchange agreement between the owner and state

was unconstitutional because the tidelands at Bolsa Chica were held in

public trust and couldn’t be sold. Nine years later, Signal’s attempt to

dismiss the suit failed, scoring a major victory for the group.

There was a joke at the time, which most people shrugged off, that new

Amigos members should be prepared to hang around 20 years, members said.

“Most of our founding members are still in the area and still involved

in our organization,” she said, adding that it was community awareness

that drew people to the group. “[Bolsa Chica] is something that was very

important to the community because it was about maintaining open space.”

Later, Amigos officials said, development of the 1,200-acre Bolsa Chica was seen by some as a threat to their accustomed lifestyle because

of the impact it would have on city infrastructure, roadways and the

beach, let alone the wetlands and mesa.

The early development vision for the area included a marina with boat

access to the sea, 5,700 homes and hotels. Such plans have been scaled

back after challenges by the Amigos and other activists, most recently in

November.

Then, the California Coastal Commission voted to cut the land

available for now-developer Hearthside Homes to build 1,235 homes from 183 acres to 65. That decision provoked a lawsuit by landowners and

developers against the commission, who see the restrictions as a “taking”

of their land.

Coastal commissioner and Huntington Beach City Councilwoman Shirley

Dettloff, who also helped found the Amigos, said the most notable

accomplishment of the group has been its longevity and camaraderie.

“Activist groups come and go, and they accomplish their goals or they

don’t,” she said, adding that the Amigos learned early that many

agencies, not just one, decide what happens at Bolsa Chica. “But when

this group gets together on Sunday, there will be a lot of familiar

faces, and it’s nice to think about a bunch of people who started out

with a cause, and found a lifetime of friendships.”

FYI: The Amigos de Bolsa Chica will hold its 25th Bolsa Bash at 2 p.m.

Sunday at Chimayo at the Beach, 315 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington

Beach. Information: (714) 840-1575.