Laguna opposes 241 extension

Mayor Jane Egly and Laguna Beach environmentalists spoke out Monday against the proposed extension of the 241 Toll Road through San Onofre State Park.

The hearing was conducted by representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the Commerce Department, which has the power to overturn the California Coastal Commission’s decision in February to deny the extension. The appeal was at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, the same site as the commission hearing.

“I requested that [the Commerce Department] support the Coastal Commission because that entity was created by the people of California and they know what is best for California,” Egly said. “I said this toll road is not about traffic; it is about development.

“I was No. 50 to speak and the first to bring up those issues. It looked to me like the commerce department representatives conducting the meeting were paying attention.”

Laguna Beach has been on record since 2006 against the extension, which is supported by the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agency, which appealed the commission decision. The agency was created to build toll roads.

Other Laguna Beach speakers included long-time Laguna Greenbelt Inc. President Elisabeth Brown, Laguna Canyon Conservancy member Carey Strombotne, Michael Hoag and Amy Jackson.

Top of the World resident Gene Felder was among the more than 650 registered speakers, but at No. 569, he didn’t make the cut. Only about 150 speakers had made it to the microphone by 8 p.m., a half hour before the meeting ended.

Some of them wasted their opportunity, according to Felder.

“A lot of them talked about swimming in the ocean, which was not pertinent to the issue of the toll road’s national importance,” Felder said.

However, Jackson was on point, Felder said, addressing the risks to national parks if the extension was approved.

“She pointed out that parkland was not set aside for future roads,” Felder said. “Elisabeth quoted Will Rogers: ‘They are not making any more land.’”

Conservancy President Carolyn Wood, who was unable to attend the hearing, said national interests would not be served by the extension. Unions would benefit, she said, because construction of the extension would create jobs. And the extension would be used as justification for future development.

The argument that traffic is overwhelming the 5 Freeway is not born out by his own experiences, Felder said.

“It is 53 miles from Laguna Beach to the Del Mar Fairgrounds,” Felder said. “We made it in 66 minutes when we left at 7:30 a.m. for the February meeting. We sailed past San Onofre. When we left at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, we made it in 60 minutes.”

This is not the first time Laguna Beach has opposed a toll road through parkland, specifically through Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. Laguna adamantly refused to support the San Joaquin Hills tollway and is the only city through which the toll road runs that has never taken a seat on the TCA.

Opponents of the extension were gratified in February when the coastal commission denied the extension. Under the terms of the Coastal Zone Management Act, the commission’s denial prevents federal agencies from issuing licenses or permits for the project, unless the Secretary of Commerce finds that the project is consistent with the objectives of the act or necessary for national security, according to the oceanic and atmospheric administration.

With some 35,000 written comments already submitted and a comment period that does not end until Oct. 2, Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Guitierrez has less than four months to announce his decision.

And even that may not be the deciding vote.

Litigation is almost a certainty, observers said, regardless of which way the decision goes.