Finally, a deal on the mesa

Coastal Commission issues permits for building of 349 homes on the Bolsa Chica mesa, clearing way for conservation of wetlands.The Coastal Commission finally has issued permits for the construction of 349 homes on the Bolsa Chica mesa, just in time to meet a deadline to sell the remaining wetlands to the state for conservation.

“We had some champagne when we found out,” said Ed Mountford, vice president of Hearthside Homes, the developer. “We were really excited. I spent 12 and a half years of my life chasing that permit.”

The firm’s sale of the lower bench to the Wildlife Conservation Board was expected to be completed by late Wednesday, Mountford said, now that Hearthside has its permits to build the controversial Brightwater development on the Bolsa Chica upper mesa along Los Patos Avenue.

For months, Mountford said he would not sell the lower wetlands to the state until he had permits to build the luxury development.

That stipulation had created some nervousness for environmental activists with the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, who now say they’re relieved that the sale is almost final.

“It’s a people’s victory and something we should try and replicate in Southern California again, again and again,” trust co-founder Flossie Horgan said, adding she hoped the sale empowered more citizens to realize they can make a difference when it comes to preserving open space.

The lower wetlands will join the more than 1,100 acres of the Bolsa Chica already protected. The land trust was able to save the lower wetlands after it filed a lawsuit against the Coastal Commission, and it eventually brokered a July 2004 deal to purchase an additional 100 acres using $65 million from Proposition 50, a 2002 initiative to provide $3.4 billion for environmental projects. Another 15 acres of wetlands owned by the Ocean View School District is expected to be sold to the state soon.

Activists have been waiting nearly 18 months to see that deal consummated and the lower wetlands turned over to the state Wildlife Conservation Board.

“When the Trust was formed, there were 4,884 houses proposed at Bolsa Chica, 900 in the wetlands and more than 3,900 on the mesa,” wrote Jerry Chapman, president of the organization’s board of directors, in a recent news release. “We’ve whittled that down to zero in the wetlands and 349 on the mesa. While we would prefer to see no houses built at all, we’re pleased that we’ve reduced the number by 93%.”

Hearthside’s property currently sits in unincorporated Orange County and could be annexed into the city in several phases. Hearthside officials have offered to pay $6.5 million in fees to be annexed into the city; members of the City Council want $8 million. Mountford said he’s unsure his company is prepared to spend that much.

“Obviously, this makes it less attractive for us to annex into the city,” he said.

QUESTION

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