Environmentalist see hope for mesa

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The passage of Proposition 12 renews hope among

environmentalists who have long dreamed about protecting the Bolsa Chica

mesa from development.

“If we don’t save it now, it’s gone forever,” said Bob Winchell, a member

of Huntington Beach Tomorrow, a group fighting for open space.

By approving the proposition in last week’s election, voters authorized

the state to borrow $2.1 billion to repair and expand local and state

parks and preserve open space and wildlife habitat.

Although some of the money is already earmarked for specific projects up

and down the state, there is $415 million that could be tapped to

purchase the mesa, said Ken Colombini, deputy spokesman for the state

Department of Parks and Recreation. The money is meant not only for

possible land acquisition but also for restoring already owned state park

property, he said.

Hearthside Homes has owned the mesa since 1970. In February 1997, the

developer agreed to sell 880 acres of the surrounding wetlands to the

government for $25 million, a “major discount,” said Lucy Dunn,

Hearthside’s executive vice president. But that came with the

understanding that the mesa could be developed, she said.

“The deal always was, ‘Birds go here, people go there,”’ she said.

Hearthside is waiting on a California Coastal Commission ruling on how

much of the mesa can be developed. That ruling could come as soon as its

April meeting.

But the money available in the proposition is too tantalizing for

preservationists to ignore.

“Perhaps we can tap some of that [funding],” said Linda Moon, president

of Amigos de Bolsa Chica.

Officials caution against raising expectations because the state has yet

to set up guidelines on how to divide up money that hasn’t been set aside

yet.

“Everything is only a possibility at this point in time,” Colombini said.

The proposition is so complicated that a committee must be created to

sort it out, he said.

“Everybody wants their check in the mail right now,” he said. “We’re

going to need time to ramp up the department to deal with this.”

Colombini said the funds could start trickling down as early as July.

While the precise criteria still needs to be worked out, “the worthiness

of the project decides who gets the money,” said Stanley Young, spokesman

for the state’s Resources Agency, which oversees all the departments with

jurisdiction over land and water.

“You have to make a very good case for your project,” he said.

The mesa easily qualifies under that standard, said Paul Horgan,

president of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust.

“It should be in first place,” he said.

But no matter how important the mesa might be, the state would never

acquire the land unless its owner, developer Hearthside Homes, is willing

to sell at fair market value, said Chuck Raysbrook, regional manager for

the state Department of Fish and Game.

“Our public position has always been we would entertain any reasonable

offer,” Dunn said.