Attorney General Says Transfer to Tollway <i> Is </i> Legal : Transportation: Opinion contradicts that by legislative counsel that incorporation of Newport Coast Drive into pay road violated state law.

One day after opponents of a South County toll road gleaned hope from a legal opinion that a stretch of public road had been transferred illegally to a tollway agency, the state attorney general’s office issued another opinion Friday saying the transfer was legal.

The attorney general’s opinion contradicted the one offered by the legislative counsel on Thursday. Both opinions were requested by Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), who has been a critic of the 17-mile tollway that will run from Newport Beach to San Juan Capistrano, and neither is binding.

The legislative counsel, which researches legal issues for members of the Assembly, said Orange County and the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency apparently broke state law when they incorporated Newport Coast Drive into a tollway without first conducting hearings. The hearings were required, that office said, because the county “abandoned” the road.

But the attorney general’s opinion found “no legal abandonment by the county,” and said Newport Coast Drive will continue to be used “as a public highway” despite the toll drivers will have to pay. As a public entity, the tollway agency had a right to convert the public road into the tollway, the attorney general’s opinion said.

Mike Stockstill, spokesman for the tollway agency, said the opinion from Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren’s office “was a complete and total affirmation of our position.”

“We didn’t ask for this. This opinion was rendered at Ferguson’s request. We hope this puts some finality to the issue,” Stockstill said. “This really closes a chapter as far as we’re concerned.”

Ferguson expressed disappointment with the attorney general’s opinion and vowed to continue pressing for public hearings. A bill he introduced in the Assembly, which would require the county to hold hearings on the transfer of the road to the tollway agency, awaits a vote in the Transportation Committee.

“There’s not much we can do except to continue to proceed and see if I can get the bill through the Legislature,” Ferguson said. “The bill I have pending says that if they’re going to do this, they will have to hold hearings. And if the transfer still occurs, they must build roads parallel to the tollway that people can use for free.”

The attorney general’s opinion also affirmed that the agency was not required to hold public hearings to discuss the imposition of tolls on Newport Coast Drive, as opponents had argued in the past.

“We are unaware of any law which required the agency to hold meetings to specifically discuss the imposition of tolls or the proposed locations of the tollbooths,” the opinion said.

But the opinion said the agency nevertheless had made the public aware of the proposed tollbooth on Newport Coast Drive by including the booth on maps that accompanied notices of the hearings for the environmental impact report. According to the opinion, the agency sent the notices to 4,500 public agencies, interested parties and others.

The legislative counsel’s opinion said the road transfer also was illegal because the tollway agency was required to do another environmental impact report when it decided to incorporate it into the toll road. However, this issue was not addressed in the attorney general’s opinion.

Instead, the attorney general’s report suggested the county’s proposed extension of Newport Coast Drive to Bonita Canyon Drive might have a positive environmental impact by reducing traffic on nearby Coast Highway in Corona del Mar from 46,000 trips per day to 31,000 by the year 2010.

Both supporters and opponents agree the question about whether Newport Coast Drive was legally transferred to the tollway agency would be made moot if the extension was built. The extension would provide a free alternative to Newport Beach residents who do not want to use the tollway.

The problem is that county officials have not decided on a route for the proposed extension because of opposition from local groups, who do not want the road built in their areas.

“We hope that people concerned with this (Newport Coast Drive issue) look to the solution, and the solution is the extension,” Stockstill said. “What else can you say about this? When the bell finally rings, it’s rung.”