Editorial

Perseverance.

The word just doesn’t seem to get much credit these days.

But observers of the long-running saga that is known as Bolsa Chica

surely know of its power by now.

Especially since the possibility to purchase the Bolsa Chica mesa

doesn’t seem so farfetched anymore.

For three decades, groups like the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, the Bolsa

Chica Land Trust, the Surfrider Foundation and the Sierra Club have

battled to stop the landowner, Signal Landmark, from developing this rare

piece of Southern California wetlands.

The milestones have been many and hard fought.

It started with a plan that called for a marina, a jetty opening for

Huntington Harbour, high-rise hotels and thousands of homes dotting the

mesa and lower wetland areas.

After a bitter battle and a 1989 settlement agreement, that plan was

put on the scrap heap and the wetland victory was much celebrated.

For environmentalists, there were more victories to come.

In the early-to-mid-1990s, the landowners resurrected a new,

friendlier plan that included a scaled-back wetland and mesa development

that would result in restoration of the lower wetland areas and the

dedication of park land for the public.

And while the plan had many, many benefits, a steadfast group of local

environmentalists refused to budge and claimed any development of the

wetlands would have dire environmental consequences.

Then, in 1997, yet another milestone occurred.

In a historic agreement with the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles,

the landowner, the Amigos, the Land Trust, the city of Huntington Beach

and others -- the landowner agreed to sell the lower wetlands to the

ports, who plan on restoring them.

And now, the last piece of the puzzle is within grasp.

The bluff-top mesa overlooking the marsh and lower wetlands could

indeed be purchased and preserved.

What has made the purchase possible is a recent state Coastal

Commission ruling, in which Surf City Councilwoman and Coastal

Commissioner Shirley Dettloff cast a crucial vote that scaled back the

amount of land that can be developed to some 60 acres.

That decision rendered the development plans by Hearthside Homes, the

manager of the land for owner Signal, obsolete.

Hearthside claims the commission ruling amounted to a “taking” of its

land and has filed suit to have the action overturned.

If Hearthside is unsuccessful, however, then city and state officials

are preparing to act quickly and purchase the land.

Several things must happen first.

First and foremost is a price tag and a willing seller. Hearthside

Homes has been mum so far on how much the land is worth and whether it is

even for sale.

Some have surmised that the price is in the $25-million range, but

that’s not based on any real calculations.

Whatever the price, the cost must be reasonable and not placed

overwhelmingly on the back of Huntington Beach residents.

That’s why the efforts by Assemblyman Tom Harman to find state funding

for the purchase are so important.

After 30 years of fighting, just imagine the celebration that will

take place if he perseveres.