Cityscape roundup

A judge has upheld a California Coastal Commission decision to bar

construction on portions of the Bolsa Chica Mesa, which are to serve as a

foraging area for wild birds.

A San Diego Superior Court Judge announced Friday that he was

dismissing segments of a lawsuit filed by Bolsa Chica landowner Signal

Landmark that alleged the Coastal Commission had unlawfully taken

property from it by allowing it to build on only 65 acres of the more

than 200-acre property.

Developer Hearthside Homes’ Vice President Lucy Dunn declined to

comment on the decision. She has said in the past that

the Bolsa Chica mesa consists of about 200 acres along Warner Avenue,

near Pacific Coast Highway and bordering state-protected wetlands. Bolsa

Chica, itself, which lies between Warner and Seapoint avenues, is on the

Pacific Flyway, offering a haven to migrating birds.

“I think the Coastal Commission made a very careful decision based on

a previous court ruling,” said City Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff, who

also is a member of the Coastal Commission.

An appeals court ruled that an area on the mesa needed to be preserved

as a forging area for the protected raptors if they were to survive.

“The area on the upper bluff could be developed but there had to be an

area left,” Dettloff said. “This judge now confirmed that was the correct

decision and that building rights were not taken away.”

Developer Hearthside Homes planned to build homes on 183 acres of the mesa and was limited to 65 by the California Coastal Commission in

November.

Hearthside, which can now submit a new plan under the Coastal

Commission guidelines, has also put up plans for 387 homes on land near

Los Patos and Warner avenues.