Lobbying efforts start for Crystal Cove State Park

Paul Clinton

CRYSTAL COVE -- A member of the Sierra Club who is fighting for an

environmentally sensitive project for Crystal Cove State Park spent

Wednesday in Sacramento lobbying for changes in state law to ensure a

luxury resort will not be built there.

Jeannette Merrilees, one of a cadre of environmentalists mobilized

against a San Francisco developer’s $35-million resort plan, said she met

with staff members of state Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) to push for the

changes.

Merrilees said she hopes Johnson works to repeal the section of the

Public Resources Code that opened the door for the contract the state

parks department signed with Michael Freed in 1997 to build the resort.

Johnson could not be reached for comment.

State parks officials announced Tuesday they would seek to buy out

Freed, who said he has spent about $2 million so far developing the

resort. The state department will reopen the process for other projects

in the cove’s historic district -- a group of 46 cottages added to the

National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Freed, who did not return calls for comment, has vowed to build his

resort. Even if he is bought out, Freed could come back into the picture

at a later date, state officials have said.

As state officials grapple with the kind of project they would

ultimately like to see at Crystal Cove, the department mailed out

eviction notices to the cottage dwellers. In the notices, the state

announced its intention to terminate the leases by March 11.

The residents face $25,000 fines if they’re not out by that date.

After receiving the notices Monday, residents answered back with a

lawsuit filed Tuesday. The suit seeks to halt the eviction process.

State parks spokesman Roy Stearns said the state was still reviewing

the suit and could not offer any specific comments about it.

“I’m just going to remain mum,” Stearns said.

The residents, who have won past court battles to stay in their

1920s-era dwellings, are hoping they’ll be allowed to stay. But they

acknowledged they’ll have an uphill battle.

“This lawsuit is shooting craps,” resident Jim Thobe said. “It depends

on the judge.”