Coastal Panel Rejects Beachfront RV Resort : Port Hueneme: The state commission fails to approve the plan by one vote. The city is invited to reapply.

The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday rejected the city of Port Hueneme’s bid to build a 144-space recreational vehicle resort on a city-owned beach, declaring the site an environmentally sensitive habitat.

After a three-hour hearing in Eureka, the 12-member commission split 6 to 5 with one abstention in favor of the resort. But seven votes were required for approval.

“I’m thrilled with our victory,” said Port Hueneme City Councilwoman Toni Young, a principal opponent of the project. “The city deserves something better than a recreational vehicle resort on its beach.”

Although denying the city’s request, the commission approved a compromise proposal recommended by its staff. Under that plan, the beachfront project could be built if moved 290 feet north toward the municipal pier away from fragile sand dunes.

“The city did not want to accept our staff recommendation,” Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas said. “They wanted an up or down vote on their plan. . . . The commissioners who voted against (said) that they support an RV facility, but not on an environmentally sensitive habitat.”

The Coastal Commission essentially invited the city to bring back an altered project by waving all deadlines for resubmission, Douglas said.

Councilman Dorill Wright, a supporter of the project, said the city might reconsider its proposal.

“I am sure the city will consider whether it’s worth it to submit another proposal . . . or to just drop the entire project,” Wright said. The other three council members could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

During the hearing, city officials said that they could not accept the commission staff’s recommendation because that would delay the 5-year-old project another 12 months and would require a wholesale redesign.

Wright, who is also a coastal commissioner and voted for the resort Wednesday, expressed amazement at the city’s loss.

“I am extremely disappointed,” he said. “I did not expect this to happen.”

Even Wright’s participation in the decision prompted criticism, however.

“The right and ethical thing for Mr. Wright to do would have been abstaining from voting,” said project opponent Tom Brigham, who attended the hearing.

Commissioner Wright said he voted on the project with a clear conscience because he had abstained when the Port Hueneme council approved it in May. Technically, he could have voted even if he had participated in the May decision, Douglas said.

The city’s RV park proposal called for construction of the resort on a 10-acre beachfront site at the end of Ocean View Drive at Hueneme Beach Park. The project was vehemently opposed by environmentalists, who argued it would harm plants, grasses and wildlife in a nearby wetland habitat. The wetland is home for the California least tern, an endangered species.

The city, which estimated that the resort would net $400,000 a year, spent more than $500,000 on environmental and market studies.

The project was also strongly opposed by some owners of the 375 condominiums next to the project. They argued that it would ruin their ocean views and reduce property values.

“We are ecstatic. We are in seventh heaven,” condo owner Katy Greenstreet said of the commission’s vote. “We can’t believe that we beat City Hall. This is the case when the voice of the people triumphed.”

Greenstreet, along with several other beachfront residents, tagged victory signs reading “No RV Park” and “We are Saved” on their homes Wednesday afternoon.

“We are jumping with joy around here,” resident Elizabeth Isnec said. “I’m forever grateful that the value of our property will not decrease.”

Alan Sanders, a Sierra Club spokesman, said he plans to ask the City Council--reconstituted by the November election--to approve restoration of the nearby wetland vegetation.

“Our work isn’t done,” Sanders said. “We want not only to protect the endangered species in the area, but also to provide the public with an opportunity to learn about them.”