Coastal Commission Staff Report Deals Severe Blow to Proposed Orange County Toll Road
Posted on: Friday, 28 September 2007, 18:00 CDT
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation, released the following statement in response to the California Coastal Commission staff's report on construction of a 16-mile long toll road slicing through San Onofre State Beach.
"The Coastal Commission staff report is welcome news to every Californian who is concerned about protecting our state parks and beaches. Based on a comprehensive analysis, California Coastal Commission staff issued a 236-page indictment of a proposal to build a toll road through the state park at San Onofre State Beach. The report establishes that this project will not only destroy one of our most important coastal park lands, but it will also threaten the integrity of the Coastal Act itself. If approved, the toll road would eliminate irreplaceable recreation areas, reduce coastal access, fill wetlands and destroy sensitive habitat areas.
"The report's recommendation of disapproval is a critical step toward the demise of a uniquely destructive project that, more than any other in recent memory, threatens the environmental, recreational, and economic resources that belong to all Californians.
"The staff report is among the strongest I have ever seen in many years of working on state resources issues. It is balanced, objective and comprehensive. We're hopeful that the Coastal Commissioners, who are the ultimate decision makers on this issue, will concur with their staff's recommendation at their October 11, 2007 meeting.
"Specifically, this report concludes that the Transportation Corridor Agencies of Orange County (TCA) proposed a toll road that goes through the wrong place, is based on wrong thinking, and ultimately, is wrong for California.
The staff report indicates this proposed route for the toll road would: -- Fragment and undermine one of the last remaining intact watersheds and coastal canyon ecosystems in all of southern California -- Have negative impacts to coastal resources that would be "permanent, irreversible and for the most part, unmitigatable." -- Set a dangerous precedent for the future protection of our State Parks and beaches and land that has been set aside for conservation and recreation.
"Equally important, the Coastal Commission staff report clearly states that this toll road, contrary to assertions from its sponsors (the TCA), would result in the de-facto closure of a trail to the coast and the abandonment or severely limited use of the park's most popular campground.
"This objective review by the Coastal Commission staff should provide ample evidence that San Onofre State Beach should be saved and alternative proposals explored in more detail.
The Coastal Commission staff report specifically states that, when all impacts are taken into account, putting the toll road through this state park "is the most environmentally damaging rather than the least environmentally damaging feasible alternative ... "
California State Parks Foundation
CONTACT: Matt Klink, cell, +1-310-283-6267, or Liz Saldivar, cell,+1-323-633-1519, both for California State Parks Foundation
Source: PRNewswire
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