Prop. 40 Win Means Funding Likely for Crystal Cove Cottage Restoration

An ambitious plan to restore historic beach cottages at Crystal Cove State Park is expected to win full funding after the passage this week of a statewide parks ballot measure.

Proposition 40 will funnel $2.6billion into park projects and environmental initiatives across California.

Until now, parks officials had secured only about half of the $10million to $12 million needed to transform the dilapidated cottages into beachfront lodges. Funds from the bond measure should cover the rest, they said Thursday.

“We have a solid green light for Crystal Cove,” said Roy Stearns, deputy director of the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Stearns said Crystal Cove has at least three potential claims on Proposition 40 money: the $225million earmarked for improvements at existing parks, the $267million for historic and cultural resources, and the $200 million the California Coastal Conservancy will receive for various open-space projects.

State officials are now drawing up the list of projects that will be funded. “Crystal Cove will absolutely be a high priority on that list. It will be funded,” Stearns said.

The 46 vintage cottages, considered the last intact example of a 1920s Southern California beach colony, are between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach. They have been essentially vacant since the longtime tenants who rented them from the state were evicted in June.

The state took the action in an effort to make the picturesque area more accessible to the public. But the parks department had been criticized for evicting the tenants before it had secured funding for the restoration of the cottages and installation of a new sewer system.

“This is a major turning point for Crystal Cove,” said Laura Davick, an environmentalist who has pushed for improvements at the park.

The project calls for fixing up the cottages and offering them to the public for overnight stays.

Also being considered are an interpretive nature center, a center for working artists, hostels and an ecological research center.

The state also plans to remove El Morro Village, a trailer park, from a portion of Crystal Cove.

Assemblyman John Campbell (R-Irvine) has proposed postponing the El Morro evictions--scheduled for 2004--and increasing the rents there to help pay for the improvements.

He said he would withdraw his bill if funding could be found elsewhere, but Thursday, Campbell said he isn’t ready to do that yet, despite the bond’s passage.

“Until [the money has been allocated] I’ll continue to move the bill forward,” Campbell said.

He conceded, however, that the chances are good that the funding will be available.

“What I think Proposition 40 does is open up new sources that didn’t exist on Monday for getting money.”