Editorial

Friday was a momentous day for Crystal Cove.

Residents there received a three-week reprieve of the state evictions

handed to them on Monday. Gov. Davis announced a plan that would buy-out

the developer of the much-criticized proposal to build a resort on the

state park land.

But that news did not fundamentally change the waters around the cove.

Earlier in the week, on the day that cove residents filed a lawsuit to

stop their evictions by the state, one among them said something

particularly telling.

“I’d hate to see o7 my f7 cottage turn into one of the abandoned

ones,” Jane Burzell said Tuesday.

That statement sums up the entire Crystal Cove problem. It isn’t o7

herf7 cottage. It belongs to the public.

It’s been that way since the Irvine Co. sold 2,791 acres to the state

in 1979 to establish Crystal Cove State Park.

The residents who live in 40 historic cottages see it differently and

are quick to point out that they pay a combined $480,000 in rent each

year. But that’s an average of just $1,000 per month for secluded,

beachfront living.

They’ve had it good -- very good -- for decades, and it is easy to see

why they don’t want to move.

But the state is responsible for keeping more than just the occupants

of the 1920s-era cabins happy.

Having people live there keeps Crystal Cove from being as open and

public as other state parks. Too many people have related how they were

told to leave because it was “private property.” Such stories quickly

erode sympathy for the cove’s residents.

Officials need to determine if the cottages’ old septic tanks are

leaking into the ground and then into the ocean. Doing so is a major

reason the residents are being required to leave.

Given the potential damage to the environmentally delicate area, it is

a job that should be undertaken as quickly as possible.

Environmental concerns also have been staved by the state’s decision,

announced Tuesday, that it is scrapping plans for a $35-million resort at

the park.

The cost for that change of heart may end up being $2 million to the

resort’s developer, Michael Freed. It’s a lot of money but an investment

that will be worth it as the years go by.

It was clear from the start that a $375 per night resort would never

cater to the public that owns the park -- another good reason to start

over.

Starting fresh is the challenge now. Friday’s steps were clearly in

the right direction, but the state Department of Parks and Recreation

still needs to come up with a plan that will keep the park accessible,

protected and maintained.

And although residents have a brief reprieve, it should not result in

anything more than easing their transition out of this little piece of

paradise.

They should be relieved that they won the battle to halt the proposed

resort.

It’s time for them to find a new place to call home.