Time to leave paradise

Last week, a group called the El Morro Village Community Assn.

pitched a plan that would in essence give a reprieve to some 200

mobile home owners who reside on state beach park lands at El Moro

Canyon.

The plan, which counters those of state parks officials, would

call for an increase in mobile home rents and some of that money,

some $10 million, they say, would go toward refurbishing the historic

cottages at Crystal Cove.

Money gleaned from rents would be earmarked for affordable housing

at El Moro and an RV camp next to El Morro Elementary School.

The plan, like the state’s, does call for the elimination of the

beachside mobile homes and earmarks $1 million a year for two groups

with a vested interest in open space -- the California State Parks

Foundation and Laguna Greenbelt Inc., an environmental group that has

long fought for protection of Laguna Canyon.

At first blush, this quid pro quo plan sounds nice and offers

money to all the right factions.

But it’s hard to not see this for what it really is -- an effort

by the El Morro mobile homeowners to hold on to their little slice of

paradise at any cost.

Some background here might help.

The land at El Moro was part of a larger sale when the state

purchased a large chunk of coastal bluff tops, beaches and canyons

from the Irvine Co. several decades ago.

Along with that sale came El Moro Beach and Canyon, Crystal Cove

State Park and Beach and the historic cottages that sit on that

beach.

Those cottages too were inhabited by tenants who paid little rent

and fought for decades to avoid state eviction.

That battle finally ended in the summer of 2001, and now the land

is rightfully in the hands of the state and is available for

enjoyment for all state taxpayers.

That is exactly what should happen at El Moro.

Contrary to the claims by those at El Morro Village, the state

does have a plan for the restoration of the 46 Crystal Cove cottages.

That $12-million restoration was announced last October and called

for rental of the cottages to the public at $100 a night.

The state also has a plan for El Morro and has issued a

modification to its plans that is largely based on public comments

and suggestions. Instead of acknowledging the state’s efforts, the El

Morro mobile homeowners fight the state at every turn and make

allegations that simply don’t wash.

With all due respect to those residents at El Morro, (there are

some who accept that it’s time to go) the day is fast arriving to

vacate the premises, hand the land over to its rightful owners -- the

state taxpayers.