Council approves Parkside

Jose Paul Corona

The City Council Monday night narrowly approved the controversial

Parkside Estates project to be built on Graham Street in southeast

Huntington Beach despite the opposition of more than two dozen

residents and environmentalists.

The project will consist of 171 single-family homes and 8.2 acres

of park improvements, all surrounded by a 2-foot retaining walls.

Many argue that the 49-acre parcel of land, which lies near the

Wintersburg Channel, is a natural wetlands and should be preserved as

such.

“We contend that it’s an integral part of the Bolsa Chica

ecosystem,” said Mark Bixby, a member of Neighbors for Wintersburg

Wetlands Recovery.

The group has been fighting the Shea Homes project since it was

first proposed citing issues such as traffic congestion, noise and

the inconvenience associated with the long duration of construction

in its opposition. But the group’s main goal is to see the land

purchased and restored as a wetlands.

Mayor Debbie Cook, one of three council members to oppose the

project, sided with the group and appealed the Planning Commission’s

approval of the project’s environmental impact report, conditional

use permit and coastal development permit before Monday night’s

meeting.

Cook noted areas designated as wetlands in her appeal, as well as

construction effects, traffic and noise.

“It’s wetlands,” Cook said, adding that the entire portion may not

be a wetlands, but there are wetlands there.

Councilwomen Connie Boardman and Grace Winchell also voted against

the project.

There is, however, debate about whether or not the area is

actually a wetlands.

“Under Environmental Protection Agency rules, that area is not a

wetlands,” Bauer said.

When Parkside Estates is built, Shea Homes would make upgrades to

the city’s sewer system. By doing so, 7,000 homes would be removed

from they city’s flood zone map and would no longer require mandatory

flood insurance.

“Businesses would benefit by money saved,” said resident Diane

Thompson, who supports the project. It would benefit residents, too,

she said.

Joyce Riddell, president of the Huntington Beach Chamber of

Commerce, also lent her support to the project.

“Hopefully, those people will be able to spend that money in our

community,” she said.

The project still needs the approval of the California Coastal

Commission, and residents have promised the fight is not over.

“It’s definitely not over as far as we’re concerned,” Bixby said.

“Part of the project has to go on to the Coastal Commission, and

we’ll be there.”