Koll OKd to Excavate Bolsa Chica Site Despite Protest

Despite an impassioned protest, developer Koll Real Estate Group received Orange County’s blessing Thursday to do the final excavation of a Bolsa Chica archeological site.

A local environmental group immediately vowed to appeal the decision by county zoning administrator John Buzas following the hearing in a county meeting room.

Thirteen people argued against the approval, many of them Native Americans who called the area a sacred prehistoric site. Representatives of Koll, which plans 2,400 homes there, defended the plan, calling it simply a final check to assure no valuable artifacts remain in the soil.

Some who spoke criticized Orange County government for allowing the destruction of prehistoric sites that they said are highly significant. Some archeologists are urging that the site be preserved as green space or covered by a parking lot.

“I can tell you, it’s like a knife going into a Native American’s heart,” said Lillian Robles, an elder with the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians. “It’s just greed, money and greed. . . . My ancestors beg of you not to pass this.”

The archeological dig is required by a development plan approved by the County Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission, Buzas said.

Thursday’s protest was the latest chapter in the long-running debate over developing a bluff just north of the Bolsa Chica wetlands, which has been called one of the most important archeological sites in the region.

Years of excavation there have turned up ancient human burials as well as stone artifacts called cog stones believed to be thousands of years old.

The work approved Thursday will be conducted on a former agricultural field covering two to three acres, Koll representatives said. No burial sites are believed to be located there, they said.

Koll emphasized that most of the archeological work is already completed.

Opponents have 15 days to appeal the decision to the county Planning Commission. Juana Mueller, vice president of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, which opposes developing the bluff, said her group will file an appeal.