Open Letter to the California Coastal Commission

To whom it may concern;

My name is Alex Brant-Zawadzki. I am a law student, formerly a reporter with OC Weekly, and a long-time follower of the Foothill-South toll road project.

I look forward to the outcome of next week's meeting.

I noticed the following article in a local Orange County newspaper, The Daily Pilot. In it, representatives from Crystal Cove State Park, one of the beneficiaries of the $100 Million offer from the TCA to CA State Parks, want no part of the toll road agency's money. I thought it might be relevant to both the credibility of their offer as well as their credibility overall.

With Respect,
Alex B-Z

THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:
Crystal Cove offer unwanted

A $100M offer from agency isn’t tempting alliance even though another $22M is needed for park.

By Alicia Robinson
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Crystal Cove Alliance founder Laura Davick needs to raise about $22 million to finish restoration of the cottages and historic district at Crystal Cove State Park, but she said Wednesday she’s far from tempted by a $100 million offer for California state parks, some of which would go to improving Crystal Cove.

Her disdain is because of the money’s source. It’s being offered by the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, and it’s tied to the agency’s plan to extend the 241 toll road through San Onofre State Park in South Orange County.

“As far as we’re concerned, any kind of plan that’s going to compromise a state park is not something we’re going to be part of nor do we support,” said Davick, whose nonprofit group manages and raises money for Crystal Cove’s historic district.

The offer was made Friday and would pay about $70 million to extend the lease for San Onofre State Park, which is federally owned land; provide $10 million for habitat restoration at Crystal Cove; and kick in an estimated $20 million that could go to various projects, including the historic district at Crystal Cove.

Supporters of the proposed toll road extension say it’s needed to relieve traffic congestion. But it has raised some vehement opposition from those who say it will wreck the environment, including popular surf spot Trestles beach, and lead to more urban sprawl.

Davick said she also fears the road extension would set a dangerous precedent for laying pavement through public parks. She fought in 2001 to defeat plans for a $35 million resort where the historic cottages stand.

“I’ve had experience of this first-hand with Crystal Cove with the resort plan,” she said.

If Davick looks to elected officials for support, she’s not likely to find much. Huntington Beach state Sen. Tom Harman has opposed completion of the toll road, but Costa Mesa Assemblyman Van Tran and Newport Beach Assemblyman Chuck DeVore are for it.

What some toll road opponents fail to point out, DeVore said, is the state park land is leased from the U.S. Navy, and Navy officials recently said if the long-planned toll road alignment doesn’t get built, they may take the land back.

“I look at it and I think, what’s the alternative to the toll road,” he said, adding that making the I-5 twice as wide as it is now has been suggested, which would displace people from homes and also take environmentally sensitive land.

DeVore believes opponents are “not seeing practical reality and mischaracterizing a lot of the debate,” he said.

The next battleground for the project will be an Oct. 11 meeting of the California Coastal Commission.