Mobile homes on the coast can’t stay

Andrew Edwards

Mobile-home residents at El Morro Village hoping to stay in their

beach-front homes in scenic Crystal Cove State Park were dealt a

double-whammy this week.

The California Coastal Commission approved plans to eliminate the

mobile-home park just days after a state appellate court ruled

against residents who filed a lawsuit that claimed state officials

improperly filed environmental reports.

Both developments increase the probability that construction on a

public campground will begin next year. The court’s ruling was filed

in Santa Ana on Oct. 5, followed by the Coastal Commission decision

Wednesday in San Diego.

“We’re very disappointed that the Coastal Commission did not take

our environmental concerns seriously,” El Morro resident Vicki Gorham

said.

Gorham did not cite specific environmental reasons why a

campground may be a bad idea. She referred all other questions to

Jeanette Miller, president of the El Morro Community Assn. Miller

could not be reached for comment.

If El Morro residents are unable to appeal their case before the

California Supreme Court, they will be evicted from their homes on

Dec. 31, when their lease runs out.

The residents have not yet decided whether they will file an

appeal, said Nelson Brestoff, attorney for the El Morro Community

Assn.

In their suit, members of the El Morro Community Assn. and another

residents’ group, the Wise Use Front, claimed the State Parks

Department improperly filed the environmental reports on the proposed

campground. The court found no errors in the department’s actions.

The Coastal Commission decision clears the way for the Parks

Department to order the removal of the mobile homes and raze

development at the site. The Parks Department will be required to

obtain future permits before building a beachside campground.

For parks officials, the mobile homes, which took up less than 1%

of Crystal Cove Park, were the final obstacle preventing the

completion of the park as originally planned, said Mike Tope,

superintendent of the Parks Department’s Orange Coast District.

Parks officials want to replace the mobile-home park with a

60-unit campground, picnic area and amphitheater, Tope said.

The mobile homes’ presence on the beach prevents all of the park

from being accessible to the public, Tope argued.

“You can walk down to the beach, but you can’t reserve a

campsite,” he said.

The Parks Department purchased the land that became Crystal Cove

Park in 1979, and El Morro Village mobile-home owners were given

20-year leases, and five-year extensions were granted in 1999 because

parks officials had not yet completed a plan for a campground and did

not have funds for the project, Tope said.

“It wasn’t ready, and we didn’t have the funds at the time, and it

didn’t make sense to kick them out,” Tope said.

Funding became available in 2000, after the passage of Proposition

12, a bond measure that raised money for the state to improve parks

and buy open space.

“We’re ready to go,” Tope said.

Barring a successful legal challenge, construction on the

campground is expected to start in March, Tope said. Parks officials

anticipate the $13-million project will take from 12 to 18 months to

complete.

* ANDREW EDWARDS is a reporter for Times Community News. He can be

reached at (714) 965-7177, (949) 494-4321 or

[email protected].