Tony Dodero -- From the Newsroom

“It’s a community that just won’t say die.”

I wrote those words back in July of 1993. It had been more than 10

years since the state had purchased the Crystal Cove coastal land from

the Irvine Co.

In a gesture of good faith, the state had given the Crystal Cove

cottage dwellers 10 years to pack up. And on June 30, 1993, they were due

to leave the premises. It turned out the state was the only one with good

faith and the residents defiantly never even packed a bag.

Still, it was widely presumed back then that the final grains of sand

were trickling down the hourglass and that State Parks officials were

serious about them leaving.

Those sand grains sure take a long time to trickle.

Eight years have passed since I wrote that story. But now, by the time

you read this, the folks who have been keeping the eternal beach camp-out

at Crystal Cove going for the better part of the last century, should be

gone.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame these folks for wanting to stay at

Crystal Cove. Anyone who has ever visited there knows of its beauty,

serenity and magic. If I could live there on the beach for the rest of my

days, I’d sign up in a minute. But that’s exactly the point. The state’s

land belongs to all of us. And as much as I’d like to live in some of the

state’s lands, much of it even more beautiful and pristine than Crystal

Cove, that is just not in the cards.

Not for me and not for anyone.

For much too long, this little patch of paradise has been held hostage

by a chosen few who have, understandably, but selfishly nonetheless,

clung onto this dream.

“We want to open up the area and let all of California enjoy the

beauty that these few privileged people have enjoyed over the last 10

years,” a State Parks spokeswoman told me in that 1993 story. Yet for

eight years, the bungalow crowd took legal action to win reprieve after

reprieve to keep taxpayers out of their own land. Even now, their

specious arguments continue.

The cove will suffer environmental damage if the state takes over, the

cove dwellers say. The bungalows will fall into disrepair, they claim.

Hogwash.

The state has always been and continues to be quite capable of being a

responsible steward of our land. Several historic sites, much more

significant than Crystal Cove by the way, are maintained today by state

park rangers. Sutter’s Mill, the site where gold was first discovered in

California, and the Sierra Nevada ghost town of Bodie are just a couple

examples.

So, provided that the last of the cove dwellers has moved on, and I’ll

believe that when I see it, it’s time to start the debate over just how

we taxpayers, those of us who own the land but haven’t been privileged to

live in a Crystal Cove bungalow, can now vacation there at a reasonable

price.

It seems to me there are two options for that. Either preserve the

cottages as rustic cabins that can go for as little as $100 a night, or

tear down the cottages, save for one or two for historic value, and turn

the beach into a campground for those who want to pitch tents.

Considering the closest thing Newport Beach has to a campground is the

Newport Dunes, it would be nice to add another beach campground to the

state’s long list right here in our backyard.

And if you compare to other beach campsites, San Elijo or Carlsbad or

San Onofre in San Diego County, the prices can be as reasonable as $25 a

night for a coastal view from your tent.

Whatever happens to Crystal Cove, make sure that you, the taxpayers

and rightful owners of this land, give your input to State Parks

officials. And when the day comes that the public can share in the

paradise of Crystal Cove, I hope to be one of the first on the waiting

list.

FYI

For more information on the California State Parks system, go too7

httpf7 :o7 //www.parks.ca.govf7 on the Web or call Roy Stearns,

Deputy Director, at 916-654-7538 to give your input.

* TONY DODERO is the editor. His column appears on Mondays. If you

have story ideas or concerns about news coverage please send messages

either via e-mail to tony.dodero@latimes.com or by phone at 949-574-4258.