Council endorses El Morro park

June Casagrande

In a turn of events one participant described as “the most dramatic

thing I think I’ve ever seen in a council meeting,” the City Council,

which was leaning toward opposing a state park plan for El Morro

Village, made a U-turn on Tuesday and came out in support of removing

the mobile homes there and returning the area to the public.

The decision came at the same time as a similar U-turn at the

county level, where an item on Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors agenda

to regulate camping near schools was removed from the agenda before

the upcoming meeting.

The ordinance would have prohibited camping within 1,000 feet of a

school. Because the state Parks Department’s plan for El Morro

includes a campsite less than 1,000 feet from El Morro Elementary

School, the county move would have had direct implications for El

Morro -- the only place in unincorporated Orange County where a

campsite is slated to be built next to a school.

County Supervisor Tom Wilson was home with the flu on Thursday, a

representative of his office said, and could not be reached for

comment on why the item was proposed or why it was subsequently

pulled. The item contained no mention of El Morro but was written as

a general ordinance covering all of unincorporated Orange County.

Though the county rule would not have overridden the state park

plan to convert El Morro, a parks department spokesman pointed out

that action at the state level could have given the county ordinance

some teeth.

“Someone would have to sponsor state legislation” to compel the

Parks Department to abide by local ordinances, said Mike Tope,

district superintendent for the Parks Department.

Though there has been no activity in Sacramento to effect this

change, a spate of letters sent in the spring to Parks acting

director Ruth Coleman might suggest a level of cooperation between

state and county officials. Between April and June, Orange County

Sheriff Mike Carona, Assemblyman John Campbell, state Sen. Bill

Morrow, state Sen. Ross Johnson and Assemblywoman Patricia Bates sent

letters to Coleman saying that the planned campsite’s proximity to

the school raised safety concerns. Most of the letters contained

similar wording, and in some cases, the wording was identical.

“I would encourage a review of the planning process to see if

another, more suitable location could be determined,” Carona, Morrow

and Johnson wrote verbatim in their respective letters.

The $12.9-million in funding for the park, which was already

secured under Proposition 12, specifies that camping be included at

the site. Any change of plans might undermine the basis of the

funding.

The letters, which inspired a number of changes to the project,

came back into play this week when attorney Dennis O’Neil, a former

Newport Beach mayor, addressed the City Council on behalf of the

residents of the El Morro trailer park. Acting as legal counsel to

the trailer park residents, O’Neil cited the letters as reasons why

the council should oppose the state Parks Department’s plan.

Also at the council meeting, environmentalist Allan Beek alleged

that state Campbell was the beneficiary of a fundraiser held at the

El Morro Village trailer park by some of its wealthiest and

most-influential owners of oceanfront trailers. Campbell could not be

reached for comment on Wednesday to verify or deny Beek’s public

claim.

Such a fundraiser, if it happened, would be legal. But

environmentalists worry that money and politics are behind a movement

to stop or at least postpone a return of El Morro to the public.

“The residents are trying to curry favor in the state Assembly,”

Beek said.

El Morro Village Community Assn. President Rolly Pulaski said that

the picture of El Morro residents as very wealthy and influential

people was unrepresentative of the poorer people, families and even

welfare recipients who live there. He told the council that the

mobile home park is public land and that residents have taken a

number of measures to try to encourage public use.

Councilman Steve Bromberg said that he supported the concept of

turning the mobile home village into public space but that he had

some concerns about the state park plan as written. He made a motion

to postpone the item to a later meeting. There was a long moment of

silence when Mayor Tod Ridgeway asked if anyone would second that

motion. When no one replied, Ridgeway seconded it.

“We’re in an awkward position with other governments,” Ridgeway

said, adding that the matter threatened delicate relations with state

and county officials.

Council newcomer Steve Rosansky was the first to speak up for

taking immediate, affirmative action.

“The issue about the park next to a school, that’s a red herring.

I take umbrage at the idea that putting a park or campsite next to a

school is in anyway a safety problem,” Rosansky said. “I think the

city needs to take a leadership position on this.”

After eight members of the public pleaded with the council to

support the state park plan, the council managed to carve out an

alternative. Councilman Don Webb suggested modifying the resolution

in a way that supports the concept of making the site public but

doesn’t weigh in on specifics of the state plan.

Other council members followed suit, supporting the revised

resolution 7-0.

“It was the most dramatic thing I think I’ve ever seen in a

council meeting,” Beek said.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.