Facts about El Morro support

Denny Freidenrich

Rick Wilson, of the local Surfrider Foundation, wrote a piece in last

week’ s Coastline Pilot (“El Morro support is ironic, unfounded,”

March 21) that: (a) attacked me; (b) defended construction of a new

seawall off El Moro Beach; and, (c) effectively claimed that the only

way to ensure water quality and public access for this southernmost

part of Crystal Cove State Park is to place an RV camp next door to

El Morro Elementary School.

Personal attacks aside, why someone from Surfrider would champion

new construction off the beach is beyond me.

Wilson says it is not actually a seawall, it is “rip-rap.” The

State Parks Dept. Environmental Impact Report for El Morro Village

calls it a “revetment.” I call it a seawall -- actually, two

seawalls. According to the report (adopted August 2002, Page 48), an

existing seawall will stay in place and perhaps be modified -- and a

new one constructed, in Wilson’s words, “to protect a lifeguard

building and public restroom.” Semantics aside, any such structures

in the ocean are, by definition, man-made and, therefore, designed to

alter natural conditions.

No matter what happens on the inland side of Coast Highway at El

Morro Village, there will be public access to the beach, wetlands

projects, and a new sewer system that will ensure that the ocean at

this location is clean and safe. The alternative plan that my

colleagues and I have been advancing would earmark millions of

dollars in private funding for these and other public benefits.

Wilson may not like the color of El Morro’s money, but it is an

option that comes at a critical time in our state’s history. Last

time I looked, the budget crisis was somewhere between $30 and $35

billion.

Wilson discounts public safety considerations associated with the

placement of an RV camp next to El Morro Elementary School. He even

goes so far as to suggest that anyone raising such concerns is using

scare tactics.

Sorry to say, but a State Parks Department public safety report

issued in August 2001 defies Wilson’s logic. It shows a 49% increase

in crime between 1997 and 2000, in what the State Parks calls its

Orange Coast district. Maybe this is of no concern to Wilson but it

is to four Laguna Beach PTAs. They are opposed to a transient camp

next door to the school. So are hundreds of others who have mailed in

coupons in response to recent advertisements on this issue (the very

ads that, for some reason, Wilson objects to on principle).

There is broad agreement on 99% of the State Parks Department plan

for Crystal Cove State Park. I even testified to that effect during a

recent State Parks Commission public hearing. There is controversy

surrounding less than 1% of the park, namely the inland side of El

Morro Village. This is where State Parks and Wilson want the RV camp

to go, and where many others are suggesting that reasonable

alternatives -- consistent with broad policy goals of public access,

historic preservation, resource conservation and enhanced water

quality -- be considered.

In the future, I urge Wilson to stick to the facts when arguing

his case. His attacks on me won’t change the outcome of this public

debate. Fact is, community support for the El Morro Village

alternative plan continues to grow daily. I’m sure this isn’t what

Wilson wants to hear, but it is the truth.

* DENNY FREIDENRICH’S consulting firm, First Strategies, LLC,

represents the residents of El Morro Village. In 1985, he was

retained by four beach cities (including Laguna) and the Orange

County Board of Supervisors to coordinate public opposition to

offshore oil drilling along the county’s coastline.