1980 SIGNAL’S PREFERRED DEVELOPMENT PLANS Signal’s plans for the Bolsa Chica include 504 acres of high density and 118 acres of heavy density residential, up to 11,249 dwellings, 252 acres commercial development, private and public marinas, re-routing of Pacifi c Coast Hwy inland, a navigable ocean entrance, and a connection to Huntington Harbour. Public cost $124,840,000.

Great Victory – Bolsa Chica Declared Wetlands by State Coastal Commission
(first two paragraphs originally printed in The Tern Tide April 1980)
On March 20, 1980, the California Coastal Commission declared that the Bolsa Chica Lowlands are a wetlands habitat subject to the protections of the Coastal Act. This means that there can be no roads or housing constructed on the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. Clearly, Amigos de Bolsa Chica is rejoicing over this signifi cant decision. Other agencies that had previously identifi ed the Bolsa Chica Gap as wetlands include: California Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Bolsa Chica Lowlands is an unincorporated area under the jurisdiction of the County of Orange. (It has, however, been designated within the sphere of the infl uence of the City of Huntington Beach.) The wetlands determination by the California Coastal Commission gives direction to the County of Orange in developing their current Local Coastal Plan (LCP). The Commission direction is to develop an LCP around marsh preservation and restoration and eliminate from further consideration the extension of roads and utility lines in the Bolsa Chica Lowlands, as the County had wanted to do. Since the latter uses are not permitted in the wetlands under the Coastal Act, taxpayers’ money will now be saved by the elimination of such studies by the County in their LCP planning.

1980 PART OF AMIGOS LAWSUIT SET ASIDE Unable to continue to fund two simultaneous lawsuits, Amigos ask that the Filling Violations portion of the lawsuit be “dismissed without prejudice” until the Superior Court rules on the Land Trade portion; the Court accepts the request.

Where Do We Stand with the County on Bolsa Chica?
(portions of article originally printed in The Tern Tide January 1982)
Overall, Amigos gained ground with the Board of Supervisors at the December 16, 1981 hearing. Close to 40 people testifi ed at the hearing, and the majority favored restoration of the entire Bolsa Chica lowlands. We went into the hearing with 350 acres of restored marsh and came out of the hearing with 500-550 acres for the restored marsh. Although the Supervisors’ resolution clearly calls for a minimum of 600 acres, the 600 acres are not really delineated on their map, since they included the 63 acres of Outer Bolsa Bay, which will not be there if the marina is built. They also included deep-water channels in front of the waterfront homes as part of the marsh. California Fish and Game testifi ed at the hearing abut their recently released State of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands report. This report identifi es 852 acres as viably functioning and extremely productive wetlands, as well as 440 acres of severely degraded historic wetlands. These fi ndings of Fish and Game, along with the strong protection of wetlands enunciated very clearly in the Coastal Act, will not allow housing and roads to be constructed on wetlands. We were very pleased to hear the Fish and Game report.

Petitions
(originally printed in The Tern Tide July-August 1981)
Petitions containing over 17,000 signatures to preserve the Bolsa Chica Wetlands were presented to California Resources Secretary Huey Johnson when he spoke to our organization last month. He promised to deliver these petitions to Governor Brown and talk to him about Bolsa Chica. We’re still gathering more signatures and would like to reach 20,000 signatures. Call the Amigos office if you would like more petitions.

Click on a green square to learn about the events of that year which are a part of the efforts to preserve, protect and enhance the Bolsa Chica