Habitat Destruction From Shea Grading

Last updated February 10, 2003

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December 2002

Sometime between November 30, 2002 and December 14, 2002, extensive grading was done to alter the drainage on the city parcel of the Shea Parkside Estates property.  Shea opponents surmise this was done in order to prevent the large lake from forming on the western portion of the city parcel like it does in most rainy seasons and certainly in all El Nino years (such as the current one).

Click on each image for a full-res version.  Note that the full-res digital camera photographs are 4 megapixels in size (2272 x 1704 pixels or about 2 or 3 megabytes).

The Damage That Was Done



The most blatantly obvious changes occured in the county parcel as indicated on the map above.  A new drainage channel was dug and the dirt from that excavation was then spread over the adjacent ground (see map).  The diagonal line on the map to the right of the channel and fill area is the county/city boundary line.  The portion of the city parcel immediately adjacent to the channel was also regraded (not shown on map, but see before/after photo below) and lowered about 18 inches from its previous level in order to facilitate water flow into the county parcel.

Shortly after this work was discovered by opponents, Ron Metzler of Shea Homes was quoted in the HB Independent newspaper as saying the grading was done simply to "restore" an old drainage channel and that no wetlands habitat was destroyed.  Ron is either seriously misinformed or lying, as his statements simply are not supported by the facts:



The above photograph is an aerial view taken from the bluff.  The fence line in the left edge of the photograph running towards the Wintersburg Channel in the background is the city/county boundary line.  Everything to the right of this fence is in the county parcel.



The BIG picture!



The above photograph was taken while standing on the city parcel and looking straight down the new drainage channel leading into the county parcel.



The above photograph was taken while standing in the middle of the county parcel destruction zone and looking towards the Wintersburg Channel in the background.



The above photograph shows that pickleweed (a wetlands indicator species) was buried by the fill dirt in the county parcel.



The above photograph shows how pickleweed was run over and smashed by heavy equipment during the grading operation.



The above photograph shows the new drainage channel as it empties into the low-laying portion of the county parcel.  Polluted farm runoff will now enter this area and flow beyond the high pressure natural gas pipe in the background into the small Hearthside parcel beyond.



The above photograph was taken while standing approximately on the boundary between the Hearthside parcel (left of frame) and the Shea county parcel.  You can see the new drainage channel in the far right background just to the right of the palm tree.

The Before/After Proof

Digital cameras make it VERY EASY to take VERY MANY pictures.  Fortunately regular photographic surveys done before the grading managed to capture several highly incriminating "before" photographs that can be paired with "after" photographs to determine the extent of the damage that was done.

Before - October 23, 2002
 After - December 14, 2002
Saltgrass, a wetland indicator species, is present on the city parcel adjacent to the Wintersburg Channel.  The yellow object in the "before" photograph is a 12-inch ruler to provide accurate scale.  By using the oblong rock in the channel levee as a common reference point, we can see that the saltgrass was seriously disturbed by discing.  The rusty railings visible in the background of the "after" photograph are for the bridge opposite the Slater Pump Station.

Was this an egregious attempt to destroy the saltgrass before a new wetlands delineation could record its presence?


Before - November 10, 2002
 After - December 21, 2002
The fence extending directly away from the camera is the county (left) / city (right) boundary line.  Notice the line of fence posts running left to right in the far background at the edge of the farm field.  In the "after" photograph, we see that the elevation of the farm field has dropped by approximately 18 inches in order to allow the city lake to drain into the county parcel to the left of the frame.  You will want to click on these photographs to see the full-res versions in order to see this change.


Before - February 3, 2002
 After - December 16, 2002
Much scrubby vegetation has disappeared from the county parcel in the background to the left of the fence.


Before - November 10, 2002
 After - January 11, 2003
Another view showing the nature of the county vegetation that was destroyed.


Before - November 10, 2002
 After - January 11, 2003
The area in front of the palm tree is the "Potential [Coastal] Commission Wetlands Only" area identified in the map at the top of this page.  The wetland area has been heavily disturbed and stripped of vegetation.

Notifying the Proper Authorities

Several government entities have jurisdiction over what happened here.  See below for current status.

City of Huntington Beach

City zoning codes forbid altering a watercourse without a permit.  Voice messages were left for city code enforcement on December 20, December 31, and January 7, with Bob Righetti of Public Works finally calling back on January 7.  Several digital photographs were e-mailed to him on that same day.



The city, the Coastal Commission, and Shea did a joint site visit on January 9; see above photograph.  Left to right  -- Ron Metzler of Shea Homes, Bob Righetti of City of Huntington Beach Public Works, the farmer leaseholder, and Steve Hudson, Coastal Commission Southern California enforcement supervisor, standing in the new drainage channel approximately at the county/city boundary line.  2 other Coastal Commission staffers were also present, along with 2 Shea biological consultants.  (I wasn't spying; honest! I was conducting a regular photo survey and happened upon the site visit purely by coincidence.)
An e-mail from Bob Righetti on January 10 says:

"The meeting that you saw was a site walk with representatives from the Coastal Commission to evaluate and assess the work that was done by the farm worker.

I won't speak for either the Coastal Commission or the County on either their site assessment or the remedies (if any) that will be required. However, for the City it is clear from the site walk that the area of land affected by the earthwork was not within the City limits. The area impacted falls within County and Coastal Commission jurisdiction, so any recommendations for remediationacross the county jurisdiction will come from them.

For your reference, our grading ordinance specifies that there are exceptions to the permit process. One of these exceptions is earthwork that does not exceed 50 cubic yards and is less than 2 feet in vertical depth. There is also a provision in the ordinance that also allows the Public Works Director to consider other possible exceptions as he may determine relevant. The drainage work that you reported has been brought to the attention of the City on prior occasions by the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, and more specifically by Dr. Jan Vandersloot in July and September of 1998. At that time the Public Works director and the City Attorney has made findings that the activity in question did nto constitute "grading" that would necessitate the issuance of a permit or the submittal of a grading plan for the reasons noted above, and because the work was preparatory for farming activities and not development.

I hope this responds to your concerns in relation to the recent earthwork on the Shea site."

Note that this e-mail completely ignores the before/after photographs showing the reduced elevation of the city parcel adjacent to the county boundary line.

STATUS: case closed, no violation found.

County of Orange

Jeff Ferrier, Supervising Construction Inspector, Subdivision and Grading Division, OC Planning & Development Services Department, toured the property on December 19 and felt the grading on the county parcel was worthy of an enforcement action.  But the final decision on this is up to higher-level supervisors.

STATUS: pending

Coastal Commission

Steve Rynas of the Commission's Long Beach office was notified on December 16 and a great many digital photographs were sent to him.  3 Commission staffers subsequently do a joint site visit on January 9 in conjunction with Bob Righetti from the City of Huntington Beach (see above).

STATUS: pending; the Commission does not comment on investigations.  However, it appears that Shea will be asking for retroactive grading permission.  Commission permit notices posted on the property boundaries say:

"PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT:

  1. A 170 single family residential planned unit development with associated onsite and offsite infrastructure improvements, dedication and improvement of an 8.2 acre public park, as well as providing additional passive openspace and landscape areas equating to 6.2 acres. 

  2. Plow a drainage ditch 200' long, 14' wide, and 1' deep -- displacing approximately 170 cu. yds. of soil for agricultural purposes."

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