Resort Plans for Crystal Cove

Recent news accounts, and your editorial of Aug. 6, have failed to stress the department’s intention to increase, not decrease, public access to the Crystal Cove Historic District. They also have implied or outright stated that our plans for the district have been secret. The department’s plans are encompassed in a 1994 report to the state Legislature and in the formal Request for Proposals that was issued in 1995. Both of these documents have always been public. While the department has not made available certain other documents, we have answered every question The Times has asked to the best of our ability.

Once our contract is signed, the project will be subjected to a number of public hearings as the environmental impact report is prepared and the park’s general plan is amended and approved by the State Park and Recreation Commission. Also, the California Coastal Commission will review the plans and vote on whether to grant a specific project permit.

The plan will increase public access by opening the cottages to public rental--some at reduced rates--and it will increase the ability of the public to fully enjoy the beach in a number of ways.

Without a project that uses private capital and allows for a reasonable return to its investors, the Department of Parks and Recreation lacks the financial resources to give the historic district the kind of rehabilitation it needs. Other measures, such as the closure or demolition of all the cottages, may have to be taken for the sake of public health and safety.

DONALD W. MURPHY

Director, Dept. of Parks

and Recreation, Sacramento

* In 1957, my late husband and I bought the right to occupy a cottage at Crystal Cove. After 40 years, I still have the cottage, which I now share because I’m unable to use it. It is wonderful that you are calling park officials to task on plans to turn it into another upscale resort (editorial).

In 1974, with help from knowledgeable people, I began to gather the necessary material to present to the State Historical Commission for its recommendation to place Crystal Cove on the National Register of Historic Places.

We attended the commission meeting at which our recommendation was considered. A representative of the Irvine Co. [the owner at that time] was there to speak against it. However, the commission cast a unanimous vote in our favor. Its heritage status is what has kept the cove intact.

For many years our lease rent was $125 per quarter; gradually it was raised, but after the state purchased it, the rent jumped to over $1,000 a month. Since the houses and land are maintained by those who lease them, there is a minimal cost to the state. Because of the high monthly rent, cottages are shared by entire families and their friends. It is not an enclave for the wealthy. The state plan is unconscionable on every count.

MARTHA PADVE

Friday Harbor, Wash.