‘DEAR RON’ LETTERS

Ron Davis’ column (“Do the ends really justify the means here?,” Jan.

18) proclaiming the actions of the California Coastal Commission in

allowing Hearthside Homes to build 1,235 homes on 65 acres of the Bolsa

Chica mesa to be a “taking”, indicates his ignorance of the facts and the

applicable law.

Land speculators are never guaranteed an absolute right to windfall

profits. The Bolsa Chica mesa and the rest of the 2,000 acres of what is

known as the Bolsa Chica was purchased by Signal Landmark (which

continues to hold title to the 200 acres on the mesa) in the 1960s for

$20 million.

The property was zoned agriculture/open space, not residential. There

was no absolute right to rezoning or windfall profits attached with that

purchase, just as no such right would be attached to a land purchase that

any of us might enter into. In the 1970s, Signal was allowed to develop

400 acres of property for a substantial profit.

In 1997, 880 additional acres were sold to the state (with funds from

the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles) for $25 million. The original

purchase price was, therefore, more than recouped.

Now, Hearthside Homes, as the developer for Signal, has been given

permission to build a plan that will cause the least possible impact to

the Bolsa Chica wetlands.

This hardly creates a “taking.” Amigos de Bolsa Chica believes that

the lawsuit filed recently by Signal and Hearthside against the Coastal

Commission is entirely unfounded.

The Coastal Commission’s action is well-supported by California

statutory and case law. Furthermore, it is the only plan possible that

will allow some economic return to the owners, while maintaining the

essential but fragile wetland ecosystem.

If the owner and developer do not wish to develop the property as

specified by the Coastal Commission, we encourage Signal Landmark to

become a “willing seller” and commence good-faith negotiations for the

sale of its remaining property for public use.

The best of all worlds would see the preservation of all of the Bolsa

Chica property and compensation to the owner for a fair price.

LINDA SAPIRO MOON

President

Amigos de Bolsa Chica

Huntington Beach

Cheers to Ron Davis for having the courage to speak the truth,

especially in the Independent.

With the attention the Independent pays to these so-called

environmentalists and the obvious spin you have given each story

concerning Hearthside Homes, I was quite frankly surprised that the

editors printed his column at all.

If Hearthside wants to sell the mesa for a conservation area, and if

there is a buyer who can cough up the cash, then so be it.

SHYLA KIRBY

Huntington Beach

Certainly this audacious ruling, if upheld by the courts, will

effectively cripple any development Hearthside planned for its private

property -- while still requiring them to maintain said property.

Certainly, we should not turn a blind eye to any government agency

abusing its power in such a way that would usurp private property rights

without just compensation.

However, I wonder if the good people of Orange County fully understand

what has been lost to us?

Hearthside’s plan included donating vast acres of land to create our

long-awaited Linear Park, mesa bluff top parks, a new fire station,

walking, cycling and equestrian trails, a nature/interpretive center and

wetlands for restoration dollars. Our local schools would have benefited

from the highest developer fees ever negotiated. Funding would be

provided for improvements to the interchange between the San Diego and

Garden Grove freeways.

Of course, the Coastal Commission fully expects Hearthside to provide

these public amenities, knowing full well that the county would never

approve the type of housing that would occur if 1,235 units were crammed

onto less than 60 acres of land.

It’s time the public take notice of the injustices committed by the

Coastal Commission and the greediness masquerading as environmentalism

practiced by groups such as the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. We can no longer

afford to let these groups set the standards for who is and isn’t an

environmentalist in our town.

Ron Davis’ column is a battle cry for every intelligent, concerned

person who can see the benefits from compromising in securing what is

essential for our environment and our community.

CARL LAWRENCE

President

Bolsa Chica Alliance

The rhetoric from the pro-development interests on the Coastal

Commission’s vote to restrict development of the Bolsa Chica mesa is

frankly nothing more than rhetoric, despite how histrionic or reasoned it

may sound in print.

Ron Davis’ opinion may sound reasonable to some -- and for now let’s

put aside the basic philosophical issues surrounding the rights of

individuals versus the rights of society in general-- but in the case of

Bolsa Chica, its basic premise is faulty, rendering his argument invalid.

The process of entitlement is about providing rights to do something

with the land, rights that the developer has never had. As such, the

Coastal Commission can’t have “taken” what the owner didn’t have in the

first place. Remember, the mesa is designated for agriculture, not

residential as proposed.

Whether argued legally or philosophically, the fair way to look at

this issue is to recognize the people of California should not have their

valuable coastal resources “taken” from them, nor should they have to

compensate a developer for poor and highly speculative real estate

investments.

I also would argue that Davis’ Robin Hood story is misapplied. In this

case, the developer is more analogous to the corrupt nobility that kept

all the common resources of Sherwood Forest for its own profit.

As for compensation for the developers, if they decide to sell (and we

hope they do), they should be compensated fairly for a value of the

property that is based on the conditions approved by the Coastal

Commission, not on the basis of their historically inflated

misrepresentations of value.

EVAN HENRY

President

Bolsa Chica Land Trust

Huntington Beach

Ron Davis is correct in his comparison of Blackbeard the Pirate to the

California Costal Commission in their theft of property from Hearthside

Homes.

However, he unfairly linked Robin Hood to the likes of Blackbeard the

Pirate or the California Costal Commission. While the liberal elite and

other Communists would like you to believe that Robin Hood “stole from

the rich and gave to the poor,” his actions -- if he is not a myth --

were to the best of my knowledge significantly different.

According to all of the Robin Hood movies that I’ve seen, he did not

“steal” anything that wasn’t previously stolen by a tyrannical

government. He simply reclaimed what was stolen from the citizens by the

throne. The closest comparison to a real world Robin Hood would not be

Blackbeard or the state of California, but more likely George Washington,

Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the founding fathers who stood up to the

King of England and fought back against unfair taxes.

CHAD MORGAN

Huntington Beach

The Independent’s usually rational columnist Ron Davis is off the mark

with his column about the Bolsa Chica.

I believe that when Signal Landmark purchased the Bolsa Chica from the

state in the early 1970s, the land was zoned agricultural/oil production.

At the developer’s request, zoning was changed by the Orange County Board

of Supervisors in 1994 to permit residential construction. As such, how

could the developer be deprived of any housing development rights by the

Coastal Commission’s actions in 2000 to restrict building to the upper

mesa?

The developer had no right to build housing on the mesa when it

purchased the land -- only a hope that it would be able to build. The

developer’s apparent speculation that it would be able to build just

about wherever it wanted, although probably not a bad bet at the time,

given the supervisors’ attitudes, simply did not pan out entirely. This

occurred because housing projects like that proposed at the Bolsa Chica

are subject to both local (county) and state regulation, and the project

did not pass state review.

Further, the Coastal Commission didn’t decide to restrict housing

construction to the upper mesa just because the commission thought it was

a nice idea. Public Resources Code Section 30240(b) mandates that

building in the area of the raptor habitat on the mesa be situated so

that the habitat is protected. There was unanimity among the scientists

who studied the issue that the raptor habitat would be significantly

degraded if the building was allowed to proceed on the lower mesa as the

developer proposed. Given all the evidence, the commission simply

followed the law limiting housing construction as it did.

PAUL HORGAN

Huntington Beach

It was with a big smile that I read Ron Davis’ column comparing Robin

Hood, Blackbeard, the California Coastal Commission and the “taking” of

property owned by Hearthside Homes. He has spoken what the silent

majority thinks. Private property rights are fundamental to our way of

life in America. Even if that property is owned by “evil” corporations.

If the Bolsa Chica Land groups want to preserve the mesa, I’m all for it.

Let them buy it! I’ll even kick in the last hundred bucks. Way to go,

Ron! Keep up the good work.

THOM DONEY

Huntington Beach

I was shocked by the suggestion of a taxpayer bailout of Hearthside.

Large land development is an investment. Like all investments, it comes

with risk.

When making purchasing decisions, the buyer must weigh all existing

factors, including the laws surrounding that investment. Hearthside’s

speculative purchase of agriculture land was a risky endeavor from the

beginning and not a very smart business decision. Wall Street appears to

agree. After all of Hearthside’s manipulative public relations and

attacks on our community, the company has still failed to reach its goal.

However, for Ron Davis to suggest that taxpayers open up their wallets

and bailout the bad business speculation of Hearthside is ludicrous.

Sounds like Southern California Edison Co. and Pacific Gas and Electric.

PAUL ARMS

Huntington Beach