Alternatives to Shea Parkside at Bolsa Chica

Last updated November 15, 2007

Aerial view of the proposed Parkside location

What's New

November 15, 2007 - updated with brief summary of the November 14, 2007 Coastal Commission public hearing.
July 2, 2007 - updated with details about the Coastal Commission meeting in San Luis Obispo
July 30, 2006 - various updates to the vegetation page

Next Key Meetings

TBD

Coastal Commission LCPA Public Hearing Held on Wednesday November 14, 2007

The LCPA public hearing held in San Diego on Wednesday, November 14, 2007, lasted for six long hours and ended with a confusing and messy result. Commissioners rejected several key elements of the staff recommendation and adopted Shea's development footprint submitted to some commissioners as late as lunchtime on the meeting day without ANY staff analysis. We'll have to wait until staff has published a revised land use map before we can really understand where to go from here. Stay tuned.

The November 14, 2007 CCC staff report is online -- click here. The major change since the July 2007 hearing in San Luis Obispo is that the EPA wetland has been reduced in size to 4 acres, but staff calls for 14.44 acres of wetland restoration mitigation to make up for the obliteration of the EPA wetland. The Bolsa Chica Land Trust whole-heartedly supports the current staff recommendation regarding the entire project.

It is currently uncertain when the Coastal Commission will consider the Parkside CDP application. Strong opponent turnout is important for that meeting as well.

About the proposed Parkside housing development

If you're a Coastal Commissioner or staff person, you'll want to look at the issues page and the multimedia page.

Where is it located?
History of the property
What is being proposed by Shea?
Issues of concern
Multimedia archive showing the property as it used to exist, as it currently exists, and as it might exist if houses are not built on it

Future milestones in the development process

Shea has achieved "application complete" status with the Coastal Commission. The LCP amendment and CDP public hearing is anticipated to happen sometime during the summer.

Past milestones in the development process

February 17, 2004 - NWWR mails 248 pages of Parkside opposition data to the Coastal Commission.
February 12, 2004 - Coastal Commission sends another "application incomplete" letter to Shea requesting additional documentation.
January 16, 2004 - Shea submits the additional documentation that the Coastal Commission requested on February 21, 2003.
August 2003 - LAFCO approves the annexation of the Parkside county parcel into the city of Huntington Beach. All references to "county parcel" on this web site really mean "former county parcel".
February 21, 2003 - The Coastal Commission sends an "application incomplete" letter to Shea requesting additional documentation. No further Commission action will be taken until the requested documentation is supplied.
November 15, 2002 - The Bolsa Chica Land Trust and Neighbors for Wintersburg Wetlands Restoration file an appeal with the Coastal Commission regarding the 8.2 acre open space / park area that is already in the certified LCP.
October 21, 2002 - HB City Council public hearing in the City Council chambers at 7:00PM. Opponents lose and the project is approved by votes of 4-3 (Cook, Boardman, Winchell opposing), 5-2 (Cook, Boardman opposing), 4-3 (Cook, Boardman, Winchell opposing)
October 7, 2002 - HB City Council study session in meeting room B-8 at 5:00PM.
October 4, 2002 - Due date for filing the appeal against the Planning Commission's approval of the project.
September 24, 2002 - HB Planning Commission public hearing in the City Council chambers at 7:00PM. This was a continuation of the September 10 public hearing. Unfortunately the Planning Commission approved the project. :-(
September 10, 2002 - HB Planning Commission public hearing in the City Council chambers at 7:00PM; 4 minutes of public comment per person. The Parkside agenda items were continued to the next Planning Commission meeting on September 24 so that staff and the applicant can provide additional information to answer commissioner and residents questions.
August 27, 2002 - HB Planning Commission study session in Room B8 at 5:15PM. Session topic is the EIR and negative impacts of the project. 5 minutes *total* public comment at the end of this meeting.
August 13, 2002 - HB Planning Commission study session in Room B8 at 5:15PM. Session topic is an update of the project, i.e. all of the infrastructure Shea is proposing and the associated zoning changes etc to implement it. 5 minutes *total* public comment at the end of this meeting.
August 2, 2002 - planning commissioners receive Parkside materials from the planning staff; also when the response to comments document and final EIR completed and available at the Huntington Beach Public Library (Central and Graham branches) plus the HB Planning Department.
August 1, 2002 - FEMA response received regarding my comment letter
July 25, 2002 - Shea Homes community meeting at the HB Central Library, 7:00PM, room C/D.
July 9, 2002 - HB Planning Commission study session has brief discussion about the Slater Pump Station cutoff limits
July 6, 2002 - FEMA CLOMR comment period ends
June 24, 2002 - comment letter Fedex-ed to FEMA regarding the CLOMR's omission of the County of Orange pump throttle-back limits.
June 6, 2002 - FEMA issues a CLOMR accepting Shea's analysis of a reduced flood threat, necessitating only approximately 5.7 feet of fill on the property instead of the previous 5.5 or 11 feet of fill.
February 15, 2002 - our group submits an acquisition grant proposal to the Southern California Wetlands Restoration Project
June 2001 - Second Public Information Meeting held regarding the new FEMA-related alternatives in the EIR
January 12, 2001 - Hearthside Homes challenges the Coastal Commission action in court, and so the previous designation of Medium-Low density residential still applies.
November 2000 - The Coastal Commission designates the entire 4.5 acre Parkside county portion as conservation, along with other portions of the Bolsa Chica lowlands.
June 14, 2000 - FEMA issues revised Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) which would require Shea to use 11 feet of fill; in response, Shea submits a Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) back to FEMA saying that only 5.5 feet of fill is actually needed. The EIR is revised to include these new alternatives.
February 1999 - Reduced Density Alternative Concept completed by Shea
May 14, 1998 - First Public Information Meeting held regarding the original project Draft EIR
September 15, 1997 - City of Huntington Beach notifies all relevant parties about the preparation of the Parkside Draft EIR
September 1996 - Shea Homes purchases the site

The California Governor's Office of Planning and Research has a searchable online database called CEQAnet which allows you to search for summary information about any EIR submitted to the state clearinghouse, including the Parkside EIR.

About us

We are the Neighbors for Wintersburg Wetlands Restoration (NWWR) who in conjunction with the Bolsa Chica Land Trust (BCLT) and the Amigos de Bolsa Chica believe that the Shea Parkside development proposal does not represent the best use of this land. We are actively seeking our own alternatives to the Shea development, including but not limited to acquisition and wetlands restoration.

We meet periodically on a face-to-face basis, and hold ongoing discussions via our Parkside e-mailing list.

About our alternative plan for this property

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We believe this property should be purchased from Shea Homes and the current farming operations terminated. The land is an integral part of the greater Bolsa Chica wetlands/mesa ecosystem, and should be restored as a functioning wetlands with the additional role of filtering polluted urban runoff that would otherwise flow down the Wintersburg Channel, into Huntington Harbour, and eventually out to our beaches.

Other wetlands filtration efforts are underway in Orange County. The Irvine Ranch Water District has a particularly ambitious project to create or restore 37 wetlands to act as a Natural Treatment System to filter urban runoff in a cost-effective manner compared to building more traditional treatment capacity.

We have applied for an acquisition grant from the Southern California Wetlands Restoration Project, a partnership of public agencies working cooperatively to acquire, restore, and enhance coastal wetlands and watersheds between Point Conception and the International border with Mexico.

Join the Bolsa Chica Land Trust

The Bolsa Chica Land Trust is actively working to preserve the remaining portions of Bolsa Chica that are still private property, like Shea Parkside, as open space. You can show your support for this effort and help to save the land for future generations by becoming a member. The BCLT is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization; memberships and contributions are tax-deductable. Please visit the BCLT's membership page to join today!

Join the Parkside mailing list!

An e-mailing list has been created so that discussions about Shea Parkside can continue on an ongoing basis and automatically provide archives for any interested people who join later and want to catch up. This is an unmoderated, open list that anybody is welcome to join. Click here to join today.

Minutes of past neighborhood meetings

About this website

This website was created by a group of Huntington Beach, California residents seeking alternatives to the proposed Shea Homes Parkside housing development adjacent to the Bolsa Chica mesa and wetlands. For official information about Shea Homes, please see the official Shea Homes website. For official information about Parkside, please consult the official 1997 and 2001 Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) on file behind the Reference Desk at the Huntington Beach Public Library or please contact Ron Metzler of Shea Homes at ron.metzler@sheahomes.com. Ron will be happy to answer questions such as why development documents like EIRs which were authored in electronic form are not placed on a public Internet website to better foster public involvement in development projects.

The maps on this website were scanned in from the 2001 Parkside EIR. Microsoft Internet Explorer is incapable of displaying some of the larger landscape-oriented maps in their maximum resolution, so several choices of smaller resolutions are provided. Netscape Communicator can display all maps at their maximum resolution. The 11x17 paper maps were scanned in two 8.5x11 chunks and electronically glued together with pretty good but not perfect accuracy (i.e. maps not to scale, use at your own risk!).

About the webmaster

I've been informed by another Parkside environmentalist that I (Mark D. Bixby) share the same first and last name as the vice president (Mark L. Bixby) of the Bixby Land Company in Long Beach. This is merely an ironic coincidence; for as long as I can remember, I've always been asked if I was related to the Long Beach Bixbys or to the late actor Bill Bixby. As far as I can tell from my available geneaological records, the answer to both of those questions is NO.

Webmaster: Mark Bixby