Cove Dwellers Not Ready to Leave Yet

CRYSTAL COVE —  Residents living in historic cottages on state parkland continued Tuesday to defy a New Year’s Eve eviction notice, while state officials began taking steps to oust them.

Setting the stage for a showdown, some Crystal Cove residents have hired an attorney to fight to let them stay in the homes--if only temporarily--although their leases expired at midnight Dec. 31.

“No one’s packed up yet, as far as I can tell,” said cove resident Joseph F. O’Brien, who has lived here 13 years. “No one wants to leave. It’s their home.”

Meanwhile, state officials said Tuesday they are undertaking a door-to-door survey to determine which cottages are still being lived in, an initial step to formal eviction proceedings. Legal action against residents could begin by mid-January, officials said.

Beside being a charming colony with breathtaking views of the ocean, the cove has sentimental value for tenants, many of whose families have lived here for five generations. For more than a decade, they’ve been fighting state eviction efforts.

Officials with the state Department of Parks and Recreation say it’s time to allow the public an opportunity to enjoy the cottages in Crystal Cove State Park. The state wants to refurbish the 45 homes, turn the park into a resort area and rent the cottages to the general public for short-term stays.

Currently, some residents pay as little as $380 a month or as much as $2,000 a month for their oceanfront homes, generating up to $500,000 a year in rent for the state.

Resident Al Willinger said the legally binding leases should be ignored because there is “no rational reason” why the cottages should be left vacant and subject to vandalism and deterioration when renovation is months away.

“It makes no sense,” Willinger said. “We know we will have to leave, but there is no reason for us to go now.”

The state has received three proposals to refurbish the homes, including one from O’Brien, who is a lawyer and a civil engineer. O’Brien contends that residents would be willing to install sewer and water systems at the cove and rehabilitate the cottages.

O’Brien said continuing to lease the cottages to residents could eventually net the state up to $850,000 or more a year, when rental increases are included.

Bob Cates, chief of environmental design for the parks department, declined to discuss submitted bids. But any business that would take over the operations at the cove would guarantee a state profit of at least $100,000 a year, Cates said.

A proposal is expected to be selected by May, Cates said. The Irvine Co., which sold the land to the state in the late 1970s, retains the first option to run the cottages as part of the sale, Cates said.

The attorney hired by residents, Deborah Rosenthal, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.