Hasty Move at Crystal Cove

When waste in government services occur, those responsible need to be held accountable. The state Department of Parks and Recreation finally has evicted the residents of Crystal Cove and announced its plan to rehabilitate the cottages at Crystal Cove to improve public access and make it possible for the public to rent them.

Yet according to the July 2 Interim Protection Plan, most of the cottages will be mothballed, boarded up and remain vacant for years until the department has plans, permits and contracts to begin construction. This will result in the loss of $600,000 in revenue and maintenance contributed annually by the tenants and will cost taxpayers more than $1 million to mothball the cottages, plus expenses each year they are vacant.

It will be at least four or five years before anything will be built, and in the meantime, the taxpayers assume full liability for the cost of vacant cottages. Considering how long the cottages could remain vacant, the total cost of the interim plan and lost revenues could equal the cost to rehabilitate most of the cottages.

There are no current plans to rent to the public because the future of the park will not be decided until the public planning process concludes later this year. The only plans for occupants in the near future are for several rangers and lifeguards to live there. Sewage holding tanks that are larger than Ford Excursions will be installed, further compromising the character of the community, despite attempts to screen the tanks.

Mothballing is the lowest level of preservation treatment allowed by the Secretary of Interior’s standards for historic buildings. Experts in historical preservation have given testimony that even the most competent job of mothballing does not match the quality of preservation that the cottages could receive if the residents remained in the cottages.

These cottages live and breathe. They leak and grow mold. Rodents visit. Without the residents, even with patrols, there will be deterioration and damage from vandals.

Arguments that evictions were necessary at this time are false.

The state argues that the evictions are required in order to comply with a regional water quality board’s order. If this is so, why did Caltrans appeal and receive an extension but the parks department did not? A recent bacteria test demonstrated that the septic tanks are not polluting.

The overwhelming majority of people who spoke at the department’s first public workshop favored keeping the cottages until a plan was ready for construction. Even some who would rather see the cottages demolished also expressed concern about the nuisance that would be created by the vacated cottages.

The premature eviction of the residents of Crystal Cove ignores good planning and fiscal responsibility at a time when our state’s surplus is disappearing.

The Crystal Cove Community Trust asks Rusty Areias, state director of parks and recreation, to justify the cost to the taxpayer and be accountable. The trust seeks to restore the community, thus continuing the residents’ rental payments, maintenance contributions and cultural presence in the cove.

There is still time to correct the current situation and give the citizens of California the best possible solution for the valuable public resource that is Crystal Cove.