Crystal Cove plan meets with some skepticism

Paul Clinton

CRYSTAL COVE -- A state plan to turn the cottages here into overnight

rentals, interpretive centers and research labs is getting a cool

reception from environmentalists and former residents of the beachfront

community.

The plan, released by California State Parks on Thursday, would allow

the public to rent some of the 46 now-vacant cottages for between $20 and

$150 per night.

Also on Thursday, the state released preliminary estimates for

restoring the cottages that range from $12 million to $20 million. State

Parks officials updated estimates from a 1994 evaluation to take into

account inflation.

The plan is still likely to undergo changes. California State Parks

spokesman Roy Stearns said the plan was only a starting point for further

dialogue.

“The public should take a real close look at it,” said Jeannette

Merrilees, a Laguna Beach environmentalist. “An idea like that should

produce a lot of discussion. It’s fairly controversial in the history of

park planning.”

While Merrilees said she would be against giving any of the cottages

to foundations for any kind of private use, be it educational, scientific

or otherwise, others, such as heiress Joan Irvine Smith, cautioned

against opening all the cottages to the public.

“I’m a little uncomfortable with the overnight use,” Irvine Smith said

Friday. “That part of the cove is very fragile.”

Smith, who marshaled support earlier this year to defeat an earlier

plan for a luxury resort, has been on the front lines with those hoping

to shape the cove’s future.

She also said she hoped the cove would not be treated like other parks

in the state, but that it would be preserved as an “island in time.”

The state would spend between $46,000 and $285,000 on each cottage,

depending on a variety of factors, according to Thursday’s restoration

estimates. A State Parks spokesman said the numbers are extremely

preliminary and that funding to restore the homes, which were placed on

the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, have yet to be found.

Laura Davick, who founded the Alliance to Rescue Crystal Cove, has

said the state’s plan “has something for everyone.” On Friday, Davick

said she shares Irvine Smith’s concern.

“It’s important that we give the project careful consideration,”

Davick said. “We’d like to see the cottages stay as rustic and as basic

as possible.”

The state would limit overnight use of the cottages to the public.

Visitors could only stay one week at a time and no more than 30 days per

year.

“We don’t want anybody to squat forever there,” Stearns said.

The public will have a chance to review the plan in October, Stearns

said, and to offer comments on it.