Readers React: Coastal Commission’s first big test after firing Lester: Banning Ranch

To the editor: The proof of how political Charles Lester’s firing as Coastal Commission executive director was will become evident soon when a huge local project comes before the body: the Banning Ranch parcel, the last big undeveloped coastal property in Orange County. (“Commissioners vote 7-5 to dismiss executive director,” Feb. 10)

Last October, Lester’s staff recommended that the development project be rejected due to the damage it would cause to rare ecological plants and animals, a massive increase in car traffic, pollution caused by building new homes, intensification of the water shortage and uncertainty over the soil quality.

The commissioners rejected the recommendation of their own staff and sent the developers back to the drawing board.

How well the developers address the commission’s concerns will show the extent to which they feel that they must abide by the panel’s edicts. Many of the same people who attended the hearing in Morro Bay Thursday regarding Lester’s fate will be in Santa Monica March 9-11 to see if the public’s concerns will be heeded without Lester’s presence.

Lynn Lorenz, Newport Beach

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To the editor: My wife and I have owned a beach condo in north Oceanside for many years. The entire development was built before the enactment of the Coastal Act, which created the Coastal Commission.

Our condo board generally supported the Coastal Commission. Still, dealing with its staff was a nightmare.

Several years ago, its staff stated that the rock sea wall that protects our oceanfront units was built without commission approval; it demanded a fee to correct that. We argued that the sea wall was built before the commission was created; the staff persisted with its demands until our lawyer found a photo proving our case.

We currently have an ongoing dispute regarding public access through our gated facility. We thought we accommodated the commission staff’s concerns by unlocking a gate to the beach and posting signs stating that the public was allowed to cross our property on an existing walkway. The commission staff wants us to build a pathway atop our rock sea wall at a cost of more than $2 million.

For these reasons, I laughed out loud when I read, “Speaker after speaker … spoke glowingly of the professionalism and responsiveness of the agency’s staff.”

Richard Foster, Fullerton

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