No Sympathy for ‘Hasty’ Crystal Cove Evictees

Re: “Hasty Move at Crystal Cove,” July 15 Op-Ed:

I watched the news of the move of all the very fortunate and select individuals who have lived for many, many years at the most beautiful beach in the state.

I listened to comments about how upset they were to be forced out of their historic cottages, how most of them have lived in Crystal Cove for 20, 30 or 50 years or more. I listened to the tales of their daily beach life, swimming, surfing, sailing, family gatherings at holidays and summer vacations for generations.

Well, they are a select handful of people out of the millions of California residents. What they had for years, few people ever experience in their lives. In addition, they had been given 22 extra years of living in the cove beyond the year it became a state park.

This was disgraceful. And for some to say this was a “hasty eviction”! Twenty-two years of delays and extensions is hasty?

Finally, the rest of us Californians may enjoy for a brief day or two what the privileged few had every day. They should thank their lucky stars for their good fortune, and be more generous about now sharing it with the public. Even now, we’re only going to experience a fraction of what they had most of their lives.

They said they paid rents to the state and therefore should be allowed to stay. Well, the rental amounts were a giveaway. There is no pristine setting quite like Crystal Cove, so there is nothing to compare it with. They had the deal of the century.

Crystal Cove belongs to the taxpayers of California. It is a public, state-owned beach. Whether the cottages are refurbished, rebuilt, or whatever the ultimate plan, it should be available to all, not a beach for a select handful of people to live on.

L. Myles

Huntington Beach

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That for 22 years the residents of Crystal Cove have enjoyed an idyllic and exclusive beach lifestyle on state park land that belongs to all taxpayers is completely overlooked in the July 15 Op-Ed article.

Unsettling, in addition, are the financial realities, the dilapidated condition of many structures and the state’s failure to enforce lease agreements that required adequate upkeep of the historic district cottages.

Pursuant to the contract between state parks and each historic district resident: “Lessee, at Lessee’s sole expense, shall maintain the premises in good condition and shall perform all maintenance and repairs necessary to keep the premises in good order and condition. In no event shall state be required to preform any maintenance or repairs to said premises.”

Yet a review of the draft environmental documents the state recently prepared shows that nearly half of the cottages are not in good condition.

Under the lease-agreement language, state parks will be violating both the public trust and the law by spending approximately $1.1 million per year for five or more years to repair the structures at Crystal Cove. Need the public fall prey to such government waste and financial recklessness?

Except for the Shake Shack, why not demolish all the cottages at Crystal Cove?

Jean Jenks

Laguna Beach

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The long delayed eviction of tenants from our state park was not accurately characterized in the OpEd column.

For 22 years, the same tenants have battled and frustrated the public use of these cottages, using lobbyists and lawyers to extract lease extensions. Their exclusive private use of expensive oceanfront parkland has properly ended.

A publicly conceived park plan for this area has been in effect since 1982, providing overnight use of the cottages by families and groups. It should be implemented without delay; Californians who voted funds for its purchase in 1974 deserve nothing less.

Ed Merrilees

Laguna Beach