EDITORIAL

When the residents at Crystal Cove were evicted in July, many

nonresidents rejoiced since the land had actually become the public’s in

1979 when the state purchased the parkland from the Irvine Co.

And it was since then that park officials had been trying to remove

the tenants of the 46 cottages and open the area to the public.

Much-publicized and lengthy lawsuits stalled that process.

Now on the eviction list are the residents living in 294 mobile homes

along El Morro Beach. The state hopes to remove the tenants by December

2004 to open 60 campsites in late 2005.

But there’s a hitch: Plans for Crystal Cove’s renovations cannot take

place until money is found to pay for them.

So Assemblyman John Campbell (R-Irvine) came up with a proposal to

extend the leases for El Morro residents -- while also raising their

rents -- to pay for the cove’s needs.

State Parks officials, however, argue that the funding for El Morro

has already been found and, thus, the project there should continue

without fail.

The problem lies in this philosophy. The strong argument for kicking

out the cove’s residents was that the land has belonged to the public for

more than 20 years. The same could be said for El Morro, which has also

been the public’s for more than 20 years and will be for another three

years.

Paying for the now-public Crystal Cove with money from El Morro by

extending its residents’ leases another five to 10 years in 2004 only

prevents the public from taking back what is rightfully theirs.

It is unfortunate that funding for the cove was not found and set

aside beforehand. However, that’s no fair excuse for allowing El Morro

residents to continue their beachfront living at undervalued rents.

State Parks officials and Campbell are continuing to explore other

means of funding for the cove’s historic district. After all, solutions

for the cove exist and must simply be found.

While we appreciate Campbell’s attempt at a Crystal Cove solution, we

can only hope that he and our other state officials continue looking for

a prudent one on our behalf.