EDITORIAL

Earlier this year, after Hearthside Homes filed a lawsuit against the

California Coastal Commission over restrictions placed on its development

of the Bolsa Chica mesa, we urged Hearthside and Signal Landmark to put

an end to the 30-year battle over Bolsa Chica.

It’s time to do that once again.

A proposal unveiled by Hearthside this month to build 387

single-family homes on the Upper Bolsa Chica Mesa near Los Patos and

Warner avenues has the makings for an end, finally, to this drawn-out

saga.

It is obviously a much-scaled back idea, compared to the original

plans for 5,700 homes pitched three decades ago. But during those years,

it has become equally obvious that many residents do not want a huge

development at Bolsa Chica.

In releasing the plans, officials for Hearthside -- who, according to

former Koll executive Lucy Dunn, are not talking to the Independent --

said in other published accounts that they were submitting the proposal

so they could move ahead with construction, while awaiting legal

decisions about the rest of their planned development.

In the coastal commission decision Hearthside is contesting, the

commission limited the development to 65 of the 183 acres on which

Hearthside has planned a 1,235-unit tract.

That legal battle needs to end.

Hearthside should settle for the 387 homes and abide by the wishes of

the majority of this town, which does not want to see precious pieces of

open space lost forever.

Does that mean that Hearthside should just abandon the property?

Absolutely not.

We urge the city to redouble its efforts now and figure out a way to

buy and preserve the land.

It may take a city bond, it may take state or federal or private

donors’ help, but whatever it takes, the end to this long running saga

known as the Bolsa Chica needs to take place.

And whether the powers that be at Hearthside Homes believe us or not,

we’re looking forward to the day that we can stop writing about it.