Hon-Zuckerman Development Project

Twenty years ago, California voters pulled off a major upset over special-interest groups by approving the Coastal Initiative. Being a 19-year-old resident of the not-yet city of Rancho Palos Verdes, I was excited about voting for the first time in my life, and when my vote helped to halt development along the coast below my home, I really felt a part of a democratic process designed to serve more than money and corporate power.

Today the land I grew up on and even now as a Redondo Beach resident still frequent to hike, ride my bike and run my dog, remains threatened by development. This coastal land from Portuguese Bend to the San Pedro border is a last frontier. It must be called to question whether those visionaries ecstatic over the prospect of spinning weeds into gold really know what’s going on down there. I personally feel that to develop on this land would constitute a betrayal of the people of California, an undermining of democracy and a dereliction of responsibility by the Coastal Commission, despite any so-called startling revelations made over recent years; i.e. , “Plans to develop here were drawn up over 50 years ago.” The Coastal Initiative passed and the Coastal Commission was established to prevent this from happening. If some of the last untouched coastal land in Southern California will not be protected as the initiative had originally intended, then what is the worth of our democracy and the people it is supposed to represent?

The Hon-Zuckerman project would serve a small contingent of golfers who can afford the exorbitant fees, compared with anyone who wishes to experience a beautiful piece of the world in its natural state. If this golf course is approved, I will always look upon it as a cemetery where a true friend I have loved since childhood has been laid to rest.

CHRIS WILSON

Redondo Beach