Bolsa Chica about more than the birds
In 1992, when the Bolsa Chica Land Trust was formed, the widely
accepted plan for the Bolsa Chica wetlands and mesas was to build
4,884 housing units, with 900 homes on the wetlands and the rest on
the mesas and Shea property. There also was to be a huge road across
the wetlands to connect to the San Diego (405) Freeway. It also
included plans for two huge jetties out into the ocean with an ocean
entrance big enough for small craft, and outfall pipes directly
flowing off the mesa into outer Bolsa Bay to lead to Huntington
Harbor. The land owner, Signal Landmark, owned more than 1,300 acres.
The development plan, called “coalition plan,” was seen by some of us
in the community as too big of a bite.
Orange County is the second most densely populated county in the
state. We are not going to move to Oregon. This is our home region.
So we began a new conversation and asked the question: Can the
community participate in community development?
With nothing more than a dream, we began. How did we do it? You
know, most of you were there. We began to organize and educate
ourselves and the rest of the residents about what was going to be
paved over and lost if we did nothing. We walked the neighborhoods.
We dropped fliers. We sat at tables in front of markets. We spoke in
people’s front rooms. We spoke at public events. We attended
countless city meetings, county meetings and Coastal Commission
meetings. We had a free concert at Bolsa Chica State Beach where
Bonnie Raitt, Pierce Brosnan, Graham Nash and other celebrities
appeared. We sent out letters to all who would listen. We entered the
Fourth of July parades, and the holiday boat parades.
In 1997, after we had won our court case, the developer sold 880
acres of the wetlands to the state for $25 million dollars. Next, we
moved on to acquire the mesas. We redoubled our efforts to get the
Bolsa Chica on the radar in Sacramento. Proposition 50 was the
vehicle by which we were able to identify funds to purchase the Bolsa
Chica Mesa. Last June, the developer agreed to sell the 103 acres of
the lower part of the Bolsa Chica Mesa to the state for $65 million.
And so today, the developer will build 349 housing units on
approximately 60 acres on the upper part of the Bolsa Chica Mesa. As
Ed Mountford, who represents the land owner, said at the Coastal
Commission meeting last week, “ ... over 96% of the property owned by
Signal Landmark will be in public ownership.” The developer will have
received $90 million from the state public funds (not from the city
funds) and be able to build 349 houses. Not bad for the landowner.
The trust and our supporting organizations such as Surfrider,
Huntington Beach Tomorrow, the Sierra Club, Audubon, League of Women
Voters, Coastkeeper, Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks and the
Amigos de Bolsa Chica, to mention a few, can be proud that 1,300
acres of the Bolsa Chica wetlands ecosystem are preserved for
generations to come. Our children and their children for generations
will have a functioning coastal ecosystem in which to explore and
recreate.
This is such a huge victory. It was plain old hard work and it was
sustained by dedicated ordinary people. The creativity that came out
of the trust was amazing. We had different political stripes, but
that did not matter one bit. It was the best demonstration of
democracy in action that I have ever been a part of.
The people have prevailed.
A great big thank you goes to all of you who helped bring about
this tremendous victory. No matter at what level you participated --
thank you.
There is still more to do, but that is for another day.
* FLOSSIE HORGAN is co- founder of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. To
contribute to “Sounding Off” e-mail us at hbindependent@latimes.com
or fax us at (714) 966-4667.
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