After Court Defeat, Their Next Move May Be in Vans

An eleventh-hour appeal by residents of the oceanfront El Morro Mobile Home Park between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach to avoid eviction in December has failed.

A state appellate court this week rejected a challenge from residents questioning an environmental review the state prepared as part of its effort to turn the 1920s-era trailer park into a campground.

In its opinion, the appellate court said it was “perplexed” by several of the group’s contentions that the state parks department hid technical reports from the public and violated approval procedures.

The state budget includes $10.4 million to convert the private mobile home park into a day-use and overnight campground in Crystal Cove State Park. Leases for the 295 mobile homes, which line the beach along the bluffs and El Moro Canyon across Pacific Coast Highway, expire Dec. 31.

Residents were given 60-day eviction notices last week. “I can understand why they want to stay; it’s a beautiful place,” said Mike Tope, district superintendent of the state parks’ Orange Coast District. “It’s not that they can’t ever come back. They’re going to be able to come back and stay like the rest of California.”

An attorney for the El Morro Community Assn., which represents residents of the trailer park, said the group had not yet decided whether to petition the state Supreme Court.

When the state bought the mobile home property in 1979, it offered park residents 20-year leases, which were extended five more years in 1999. Roughly one-third of the El Morro residents live there full time, Tope said, and the rest use the park as a vacation home. Park officials said they will not extend the leases a second time.

“They’ve had a 25-year notice that we’re going to implement a campground,” Tope said.

The California Coastal Commission next Wednesday will review the project proposal, with staff recommending removal of the trailers to restore the park for public use.

Tope said residents are responsible for dismantling the mobile homes. Project construction will probably begin next spring, Tope said, and should take 12 to 18 months. Besides a lot for recreational vehicles and campgrounds, the project will include a small amphitheater, public restrooms, picnic areas and restoration of the El Moro Creek.