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29 , 2004
This time Hearthside sought to build a gated, guarded community of 379 homes, a private gym on 105.3-acres of upland habitat above the Bolsa Chica wetlands. While the number of houses was surely smaller than previously submitted proposals, as Coastal Staff noted in their analysis the project as proposed would cause a raft of massive, devastating, irreversible adverse impacts on coastal resources and wildlife. The landowner’s proposal offered so little space between development and the fragile wildlife the Coastal Commission has long championed, that were this proposal to have been approved the hawks, burrowing owls and a great number of other threatened birds and plants would not have been able to survive here. The development would also have required a tremendous amount of grading, which the Coastal Act calls massive landform alteration, and specifically forbids. This of course in addition to the fact that Hearthside Homes had tried to blackmail the Commission into accepting this development nightmare by threatening to end talks with the state, which is trying to use $65 million in bond money to purchase another part of the wetlands! Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, League for Coastal Protection, Wetlands Action Network, and Amigos de Bolsa Chica all supported the Bolsa Chica Land Trust asking the Commission to support Coastal Commission staff and protect Bolsa Chica. When it became clear that there was no way the Commission would ever pass this terrible plan as written, the developer agreed to withdrawal it’s current proposal in an effort to go back to the drawing board and address the numerous issues raised by the public, Commission staff and members of the Commission. Hearthside Homes has not followed through on its blackmail threat yet, and the state’s land conservation deal is still moving forward. For more details on the hearing and Bolsa Chica, read my California CoastWatcher article by clicking here. |
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