HUNTINGTON BEACH : City Seeks Grant for Land Near Wetlands

The City Council is applying for a $4.5-million grant to buy land near the Bolsa Chica wetlands. The land is not yet up for sale, but it soon may be, city officials said.

The council on Monday night voted 5 to 2 to apply for the grant from a federally funded conservation organization, the North American Wetlands Conservation Council. Councilmen Jim Silva and Earle Robitaille cast the dissenting votes.

The city’s application for the grant says the amount of acreage that could be purchased for $4.5 million is “unknown.” However, city officials said that they would be in a better bargaining position were they to have money in hand if any land becomes available.

Land around the wetlands has been the focus of intense public debate in Huntington Beach in the past two years. The Koll Co. has a proposal before the county to develop some of the land and restore some of the wetlands.

Groups opposing the Koll plan have urged that efforts be made to buy the land and preserve it in its natural state. Lucy Dunn, a vice president of the Koll Co., has repeatedly said the land is not for sale.

But Deputy City Administrator Rich Barnard said that other landowners in the Bolsa Chica area may be willing to sell.

“The land is not actually up for sale, but we think it might be,” Barnard said.

The Sierra Club on Tuesday issued a statement praising the city’s attempt to buy some Bolsa Chica land.