Cove funding bill dropped

Paul Clinton

CRYSTAL COVE -- A local assemblyman has dropped a nearly yearlong push

to use revenue from the El Morro trailer park to help pay for the

restoration of the beachfront cottages at the state park.

Assemblyman John Campbell, whose district includes the park, says he

will no longer pursue his Assembly Bill 2190, which he introduced Feb.

20.

If made law, the bill would have raised as much as $10 million to

restore the cottages. The trailer park’s residents, set to be evicted by

California State Parks in 2004, would have been given a five-year

extension of their leases.

The bill has been opposed by state parks officials and local

environmentalists, who have lobbied Campbell to back away from his plan.

In dropping his bill, Campbell pointed to several other sources of

funds to restore the cottages, which have been vacant since July.

“My objective from the beginning has been to see the cottages

restored,” Campbell said. “With the park bond, coastal commission and

department dollars, I believe the necessary funding is available without

my legislation.”

The passage of Proposition 40 on March 5 has opened several avenues

for significant funds for the restoration. The $2.6-billion bond includes

a $225-million outlay to California State Parks, $200 million to the

California Coastal Conservancy, $632 million in local assistance grants

and $267 million for cultural and historic resources.

State parks agency officials promised that the cottages at Crystal

Cove would be high on the list of projects recommended for use with those

funds.

“It’s going to be very near the top of our priority list for Prop. 40

money,” said Roy Stearns, California State Parks spokesman. “It’s a

strong possibility [for funding].”

A contingent of environmentalists led by Laura Davick and local

members of the Sierra Club met with Campbell on Wednesday at his Irvine

office and urged the legislator to drop the bill.

Environmentalists said they would work to convince Gov. Gray Davis to

include some money in his revised budget, which he is scheduled to

release May 10.

Campbell, also on Wednesday, sent a letter to Davis, formally

requesting about $16 million needed to repair the cottages.

“We need to be diligent in trying to pressure the appropriate

individuals,” Davick said. “[Campbell’s bill] was definitely an irritant

for a lot of folks.”

Campbell’s bill had raised the ire of environmentalists and state

officials because it would have allowed private residents at El Morro to

continue living on publicly owned land.

Even influential heiress Joan Irvine Smith, who has pushed state

officials to restore the historic cottages at Crystal Cove, logged her

opposition to the bill.

“This would have perpetuated a private use,” Smith said. “This was not

the correct approach.”

Campbell said he would resuscitate the bill next year if funding could

not be secured.