Handle With Care

News of the closing of Marineland brings disappointment to hundreds of thousands who have enjoyed its exhibitions and, not least, the beauty of its location on the Pacific Ocean. The park has represented a valuable recreational and educational resource, attracting 825,000 visitors last year. But, of course, it is a private enterprise and the owners, within the limits of the law and public interest, are free to make this decision and to seek other uses for the land.

In the years since the park opened in 1954 the citizens of California, by an overwhelming majority, and the neighbors of the park, through the incorporation of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, have affirmed new principles regarding the protection of the coast, new concepts of the public interest in that protection, and new restrictions on those who seek development of any sort along the coast. Those were wise and important decisions, essential to guarding the interest of future generations in the extraordinary resource that the coast affords.

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, the present owner of Marineland, has promised to develop the site “in an orderly and dignified fashion” that will retain public access to the shorefront. That is reassuring. It would be more reassuring if the company had been candid about its plans and had not said, at the time of its purchase in December, that it intended to maintain operation of the park.

Fortunately, the City Council of Rancho Palos Verdes has moved quickly in anticipation of this eventuality, putting in place an ordinance that gives the city full discretion in controlling the future of the site. It is now zoned for commercial recreational purposes, but even use in conformity with that zoning will require a conditional use permit. Furthermore, there is the safeguard of the State Coastal Commission, which, in the event of appeal, could exercise authority to assure use respectful of the public interest.

There is ample precedent for Rancho Palos Verdes to play a strong role in determining the future of this unique site. Santa Barbara demonstrated the potential for constructive use of a city’s authority when it worked out a plan for the new Fess Parker Red Lion Inn that includes a provision for a public park. Rancho Palos Verdes was incorporated by citizens who wanted, as a priority consideration, to control land use and to resist high-density development. The city now has an unexpected opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the public interest in determining the future of that unique site.