California Coastal Commission

Environmental activists criticized Thursday what they say was foot-dragging on reports about 174 ancient sets of human remains on a section of the Bolsa Chica Mesa. Half of those were reported just recently by archaeologists in November, according to officials from the California Native American Heritage Commission. Bolsa Chica Land Trust Executive Director Flossie Horgan called it a “cover-up,” saying the public deserved to know about those finds when they happened on the land slated to become the Brightwater housing development.

In the aftermath of the California Coastal Commission’s approval of a crucial permit for a hotly contested housing development, both supporters and opponents are still waiting to find out exactly what the recent votes add up to. But both sides of the debate over the proposed Parkside Estates near the East Garden Grove-Wintersburg flood channel said the fight isn’t over by a long shot. And one side is considering its legal options. “We’re going to get together with our lawyers, sit down and say, ‘Are we going to let that stand?

Hundreds of residents packed the chambers at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting for a pair of closely watched issues: a modernization project for a historic Huntington Beach church and the annexation of part of county Bolsa Chica land. After public hearings and changes to plans, the commission passed a revitalization of First Christian Church, 1207 Main St., on a 5-0 vote, with two members recusing themselves because of connections to the church. While parishioners said their 50-year-old buildings desperately needed an update to accommodate their congregation, a number of neighbors said they worried about too much noise and traffic, during and after construction.

In a new twist to the saga of the controversial Parkside Estates housing development near the Bolsa Chica, the California Coastal Commission went against its own legal counsel and postponed the hearing to October or November. The 9-3 vote Wednesday came soon after Coastal Commission lawyers said the law wouldn’t allow such a postponement. Commissioners said they felt it was unfair to make developer Shea Properties and the city respond to a staff report when some additions to it were released just a few days before the meeting.

The Coastal Commission has given a mixed response to the city on its request to pull a permit application for the long-contentious Parkside housing development near the Bolsa Chica, city officials said. The city and developer Shea Properties now appear to be faced with a tough choice: letting a deadline expire and facing a major delay in the permit process, or going up to the commission’s meeting Wednesday knowing that a staff report on the issue supports many of Parkside opponents’ positions.

The Coastal Commission has given a mixed response to the city on its request to pull a permit application for the long-contentious Parkside housing development near the Bolsa Chica, city officials said. The city and developer Shea Properties now appear to be faced with a tough choice: letting a deadline expire and facing a major delay in the permit process, or going up to the commission’s meeting Wednesday knowing that a staff report on the issue supports many of Parkside opponents’ positions.

How long have there been plans to develop that property next to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands? Since the late '80s? We won't bother to rehash the long, sorry history of all those development plans, which started with thousands of homes only to be reduced to the pending 170-home project that the City Council approved in 2002. Suffice it to say that the property owners have waited many years for permission to build on that land. So when the California Coastal Commission put off a vote for about another month you'd figure it wouldn't be such a big deal.

Opponents of the proposed Poseidon seawater desalination plant said they'll continue to fight the project, despite a judge's ruling this week rejecting an environmental challenge. Orange County Superior Court Judge David C. Velasquez on Monday rejected a lawsuit the Sierra Club and the Surfrider Foundation filed against the city of Huntington Beach challenging the environmental report on the plant. The City Council approved the report in September 2005 and granted permits for the project in March.

The Amigos de Bolsa Chica group is holding its 26th annual "Running is for the Birds" with a 5K/10K run and family fun walk on Oct. 7 at Bolsa Chica State Beach. The race and walk start at the beach concession near Warner Avenue and continue along Pacific Coast Highway. The 5K run and walk will be toward Golden West Street; the 10K run is to the top of the bluff and back. All funds raised from the race go to the nonprofit Amigos for the restoration, preservation and maintenance of the Bolsa Chica wetlands.