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Famed
Surf-Break Wipes Out
Toll Road
The Coastal Commission nixed the toll road through San Onofre State Park before a huge crowd at its Feb. 6 hearing at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, citing environmental impacts that can't be mitigated.
With
a strongly-worded staff
report calling the toll
road project "fundamentally
inconsistent with the
spirit and letter of
numerous resource protection
policies of the Coastal
Act," the
Coastal Commission considered
a wide range of issues,
including environmentally
sensitive habitat for
six species (the Pacific
pocket mouse, tidewater
goby, arroyo toad, coastal
California gnatcatcher,
least Bell's vireo,
and southern California
coast The potential impact on Trestles, a world-class surf break, along with other environmental concerns, was a major factor in the huge public interest in this issue, with strong audience representation from Surfrider Foundation members and supporters, as well as the Sierra Club. The staff report provided a fascinating primer on the environmental factors that cause high quality wave formation at Trestles, and why surfing mitigation is an uncertain science. Del Mar Deputy Mayor Crystal Crawford urged the Commission to deny the certification, saying that the project would "in no uncertain terms destroy precious and dwindling coastal resources." Drawing on Del Mar's experience with lagoon restoration, she noted, "Our city knows firsthand how it is far easier to prevent environmental damage rather than to mitigate damage once it has occurred."
By
9:00 am, the scheduled
starting time for the
meeting, the 1500 floor
seats and 800 bleacher
seats in the Fairground's
Wyland Hall were filled,
with an overflow crowd
spilling into the outside
area where environmental
organizations collected
petition signatures
and distributed free
t-shirts, and the Foothill
Eastern Transportation
Corridor Agency (TCA),
the agency seeking to
build the toll road, Although
the majority of attendees
were clearly toll road
opponents, an estimated
400 pro-toll road union
members were in attendance,
with one set of bleachers
filled with Laborer's
Local 652 members from
Orange County holding "Drive
Less, Live More" signs,
and another contingent
of about 200 from the
southwest regional council
of the carpenter's union,
representing workers
from Santa Barbara to
San Diego. Before the
hearing began, the atmosphere
in the room was lively,
with pro-toll The verbal fireworks weren't limited to the audience, however. During the hearing, Commissioner Sara Wan responded to reports accusing the Coastal Commission staff of "junk science" by pointing out statements by TCA's experts that she called "clearly designed to mislead," and termed some TCA expert opinions "false science". Commissioner Steve Blank called the TCA's offer to contribute $100 million to the California Department of Parks and Recreation for uses relating to the San Onofre and Crystal Cove State Beaches "the most embarrassing part of the [toll road] proposal," asking, "Is there a price list for a state park?" At 11:22 pm, with the 2-8 vote announced, the meeting was adjourned to great cheering from the audience, still substantial despite 14 hours having elapsed since the hearing began. With the federal certification denied, the toll road project appears to be dead, absent a successful court appeal by TCA or an exemption or override of the federal consistency requirement. Below: Photos of the existing condition (top) and the proposed toll road (bottom, artist's conception), courtesy of the Coastal Commission.
Coastal Commission Staff Report: http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2008/2/W8b-2-2008.pdf Coastal
Commission website: Video
of Commission hearings: San
Diego chapter, Surfrider
Foundation: Foothill-South
Information Center:
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steelhead),
traffic congestion alleviation,
asserted national security
needs and emergency
evacuation issues, a
controversial non-competition
agreement that would
prohibit CalTrans from "competing" with
the toll road, and the
impact on sacred sites
and traditional cultural
uses by Native Americans.
distributed
a "Green
Means Go!" brochure
making its case for
environmental stewardship
in the toll road project.
road
chants met with boos
from the opponents,
and both sides well-armed
with colorful signs,
both professionally
printed and handmade.
