City adds Bolsa homes

Builder’s agreement to higher fees paves the way for 349 mesa houses to be annexed into Huntington.Huntington Beach, get ready to welcome your new neighbors. Developers working on a controversial plan to build 349 homes on part of the Bolsa Chica mesa have agreed to have the land annexed into the city.

Hearthside Homes President Ed Mountford said he hopes the deal brings to a close the 30-year battle over the site.

“At the end of the day, we thought it was in the project’s best interest and our best interest to have a good relationship with Huntington Beach, put the past behind us and move forward,” he said.

The developers were prepared to agree to annexation in December, but they balked after City Councilman Keith Bohr tagged an extra $1.5 million onto the deal. Under the original agreement negotiated with staff, Hearthside had agreed to pay $6.5 million in fees for the right to be annexed into Huntington Beach and tap into the city’s water supply.

“You could say the city got the better end of the deal,” Mountford said of his agreeing to the fee increase.

For his part, Bohr said he was happy Hearthside agreed to higher costs.

“Frankly, I think it would have been a good deal at twice the price,” he said.

Mountford’s only alternative would have been to reject the annexation agreement and pay for a costly pipeline to import water; Mountford estimated it would cost about $8 million. City engineers pegged the amount closer to $14 million.

The deal would also have Hearthside protect the city from any potential lawsuit that might occur from Hearthside’s breaking its agreement with Golden State Water Co. to build a pipeline.

During the public hearing on the annexation, Bohr argued that the $6.5 million Hearthside was offering wasn’t enough. Normally a development the size of Brightwater would generate as much as $19 million in fees, $11 million of which would go to park space. Hearthside received a small break because it had to dedicate so much sensitive habitat to conservation, but Bohr said he was still unhappy with the offer.

“I think there is still too much money left on the table between the cost of the pipeline and the [estimation] of what the liability would be,” he said during the meeting.

Mountford said grading on the project will begin in May, and model homes should be available by spring 2007. Hearthside recently completed the sale of 102 acres of adjacent wetlands to the state Wildlife Conservation Board using $65 million from a 2002 bond initiative.

Councilwoman Debbie Cook said she was happy environmentalists were able to save most of the Bolsa Chica over the last three decades, but was saddened to see the remaining 103 acres developed into homes.

“No amount of fees or property taxes could make up for the loss of a national treasure like Bolsa Chica,” she said at the December meeting.