Scaled-Down Project Near Wetlands OKd
SANTA ANA — Capping nearly 30 years of bitter controversy, the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a scaled-down development plan for the bluffs above the Bolsa Chica wetlands, one of the last and largest open coastal areas in Southern California.
The plan, fought over for decades in the courts and before government agencies, allows 1,235 homes on the mesa behind the Bolsa Chica wetlands near Huntington Beach.
It is a sweeping reduction from Koll Real Estate Group’s original plan to build nearly 6,000 homes there, including 900 partly on the environmentally sensitive wetlands.
“The project has changed for the better,” Supervisor James W. Silva said. “This is an undeniable win for the environment.”
Lucy Dunn, a spokeswoman for Koll, said: “It’s time to get this over and done.”
The supervisors’ vote Tuesday, taken after about 20 protesters opposed the project outside, effectively removes the last hurdle barring construction, county officials said.
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