Crystal Cove activists score victory

Jasmine Lee

SANTA MONICA -- To the tentative delight of local beach preservationists,

the Irvine Co. announced Wednesday it is making environment-friendly

revisions to its 635-home project above Crystal Cove State Park.

The proposed development, under review by the California Coastal

Commission, was scheduled to either receive the go-ahead or the boot by

state officials Wednesday at a meeting in Santa Monica, but an 11th-hour

request by the Irvine Co. postponed the public hearing until April.

Carol Hoffman, an Irvine Co. spokeswoman, said the company needs more

time to work on a design that will eliminate a detention basin in Muddy

Canyon Creek -- the part of the project that concerned the commission --

and will add six smaller basins to catch the runoff from the 980-acre

development.

Commissioners said the delay will also give them a chance to visit the

site and more time to spend on the issue of coastal development -- an

issue that will weigh heavily on the future of California’s beaches.

“This will influence how we make these types of decisions in the future,”

said Commissioner Shirley Dettloff.

The commission could deny a key development permit that county officials

in 1998 granted the Irvine Co.

More than 30 environmental experts and beach lovers living near Crystal

Cove were expected to go to Santa Monica on Wednesday to ask the

commission to block the development. No testimony about the project was

permitted because the issue was postponed, but those who showed up said

the meeting was still a success.

“I feel this is a step toward really evaluating what we’re doing to the

marine environment,” said Laura Davick, founder and president of the

Alliance to Rescue Crystal Cove.

The alliance has been protesting the Irvine Co.’s plans to build homes, a

retail center and recreational facilities primarily because it is

concerned that runoff from the proposed development would contaminate the

pristine beach.

Garry Brown, of the Newport Beach-based Orange County Coastkeeper, said

he was pleased to see the Irvine Co.’s project continue to evolve.

“We’re not trying to kill the project,” Brown said. “But we do have a

problem with the added runoff into Orange County’s last pristine beach.

It should not be sacrificed for housing, but I think this can be

resolved.”

The Irvine Co. earlier this year, in response to protests by Crystal Cove

defenders, revised its proposal to address water quality and erosion

problems.

An outline of the latest changes in the design is not yet available,

Hoffman said.

“We have been working on this since the staff report came out to address

the concerns of the commission,” Hoffman said.

Members of the beach advocacy groups said they will wait to see the final

plans before claiming a victory for the environment.

The Irvine Co. originally asked for the public hearing to be held in

March because the new design will put a nearby project on hold. Four of

the newly proposed detention basins are to be located in a separate but

related 200-home development that is already under construction.

State officials decided that the Central California location of the March

meeting, which will be held in Carmel, was too far a trek for residents

who wanted to give testimony. The April meeting will be held at the Queen

Mary in Long Beach.

But many persistent people, like Susan Jordan of the League for Coastal

Protection, would travel as far as necessary to fight for Crystal Cove.

Jordan said she was not convinced that the Irvine Co.’s project, even

with the newest revisions, would be environmentally sound.

“I am not willing to risk the future of state parks,” Jordan said.