Retorts: Alternate outcomes for some different decisions

Continued from page 3 the California Air National Guard.

When the land was declared surplus in the mid-Seventies, Garden Grove citizens and officials debated the land’s fate. A huge housing tract that would have doubled the size of West Garden Grove? Regional shopping mall? Regional park?

Feeling the need for more property taxes, the city council went with a gigantic industrial park that runs generally between Western Avenue and Valley View Street.

Building many acres of new, upscale homes there could have changed the demographics of the city and expanded the school district’s array of campuses, but possibly also seriously stressed traffic even more than it is now.

If Bolsa Chica hadn’t been saved. For decades developers wanted to build many homes in the area in and around what’s now called the Bolsa Chica Wetlands facing Pacific Coast Highway and south of Warner Avenue.

Environmental groups fought doggedly to resist and eventually prevailed, setting a precedent statewide for the preservation of habitat for endangered species and open space.

Not only would Surf City have become more crowded, lost would have been the example that led to other successful preservation efforts.

More “What-Ifs” next Wednesday

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